Mildly Pleased » Blog

Trek On

Sean — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:46:07 +0000

Star Trek Into Darkness Do not forget, don’t ever forget, that the creative team behind Star Trek: The Next Generation had four shots at making a good movie. Four shots, and like a poor marksman, they kept missing the target. One of the smartest shows on TV, a complex, weekly discussion of life, morality, and [...]

Vampire in Brooklyn

John — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:57:03 +0000

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis of the 1995 Eddie Murphy classic Vampire in Brooklyn, look elsewhere. Instead, here’s something that’s almost as good. Modern Vampires of the City is the third release from Vampire Weekend, the indie pop foursome that’s getting harder and harder to [...]

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen

John — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:08:07 +0000

Ray Harryhausen: 1920 – 2013 I’m shocked that I didn’t hear about this earlier. Ray Harryhausen was one of the greatest special effects artists of his time. As one of the top pioneers in stop-motion photography he brought countless fantastical creatures to the screen. From his early years as an assistant to Willis H. O’Brien [...]

T3 58: Top 10 Ways to Give Up

Sean — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:00:46 +0000

Sorry there wasn’t an episode last week, we had some plans and then they fell apart and we just, kind of, gave up. We’re pretty good at that, actually. You see, in life, you have to make choices. Choices about how you feel about yourself and how you present yourself to society. And we’ve all [...]

Savage Yo’ Self

Colin — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:57:23 +0000

Savages – Silence Yourself Getting excited about a debut album is a phenomenon that is completely alien to me. The order of things seems to usually be that a band releases an album or two, you like what they’re doing, so you get all amped up over the idea of what their next album will [...]

On Defiance

Sean — Sun, 05 May 2013 07:00:04 +0000

As Colin pointed out in his surprisingly thorough write up of “Landslide,” there haven’t been a lot of posts lately. One of the reasons for that is I’ve been spending my time not playing through a bunch of fun new video games, but instead focusing entirely on the trans-media event (my words, not their’s) that [...]

Heavy Boots of Lead

Sean — Sat, 04 May 2013 21:29:59 +0000

Iron Man 3 The first Iron Man was great. The Incredible Hulk was better than the first, Iron Man 2 was forgettable, Thor and Captain America were fun, but that first Iron Man movie was great. It made the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe possible. So I can understand Marvel’s desire to kick off the post-Avengers [...]

It’s Mostly Been Like That

Colin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:16:32 +0000

Phoenix – Bankrupt! I’m usually not one of those people that get to say, “Pfff. I liked ‘em before they were big.” I don’t why that is, but I guess I tend to gravitate towards bands just as they’re reaching their peak, or I just gravitate towards bands that don’t quite have that Big Time [...]

T3 57: Top 10 Buddy Movies

Sean — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:57:25 +0000

We’re not experts on a lot of things over here at T3, but we are good friends. Hmm, maybe that should be the disclaimer on every episode of this podcast. Regardless, we put our friendship knowledge to good use this week by discussing our favorite buddy movies in honor of Pain and Gain. If you [...]

Meh Meh Meh’s

Colin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:23:34 +0000

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – Mosquito I feel like Sean and John are bigger Yeah Yeah Yeah fans than I, and therefore should probably be reviewing this latest outing from the venerable NYC trio. But whatever, I’ve been a fan even longer than those dudes, just to a lesser degree. And unlike John, I’m not the [...]

T3 56: Top 10 Albums of 1968

Sean — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 05:58:20 +0000

There’s something about the Sixties. As a society, we still can’t shake it. As a podcast, we can’t escape it either. Now that Mad Men is back, and set in a new year, so have we returned to the deep, deep well of Sixties music. Particularly, albums released in 1968. Such as… Well, I don’t [...]

T3 55: Top 10 Siskel & Ebert & Roeper Reviews

Sean — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:59:53 +0000

Roger Ebert passed away last week and it hit us pretty hard. The man has been a role model for all us a critic and a promoter of the discussion of art. There might not be any individual who was more influential on this podcast or Mildly Pleased, except for perhaps his co-critics, Gene Siskel [...]

Buggin’ Out

Sean — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:33:18 +0000

Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse As if I wasn’t hesitant enough already to write about music, a month-long detour into David Bowie basically cemented the fact that I wouldn’t be doing any music reviews from the first quarter of the year. That’s a shame, because I’ve actually listened to a few really great albums, and [...]

The Next Day Never Knows

Sean — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:00:19 +0000

David Bowie – The Next Day If there’s one thing in this damned crazy world of ours that I agree with John on, it’s that “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” is an awesome song. Maybe one of the best David Bowie has ever done. That he can manage to put out a song like that, [...]

T3 54: Top 10 Remakes We’d Like to See

Sean — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:45:30 +0000

Hollywood sure loves a remake. I mean, it makes sense. Movies have to compete with YouTube, cable TV, on-demand, Netflix and God knows what tomorrow will have in store for our entertainment. So the filmmakers of the world have to leech onto anything we might possibly recognize. And sometimes, that doesn’t have to be a [...]

R.I.P. Roger Ebert

Colin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 01:25:08 +0000

I know this is one of those deaths where you could definitely see it coming, as Roger Ebert seemed to have been battling one physical ailment after another ever since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002. But still, it’s hard not to be affected whenever we lose one of the all-time greats in any [...]

Bowie Blowout: Sean’s Top 10

Sean — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:00:40 +0000

I guess I like David Bowie more than most people? Well, I can’t really speak to that. I can say with certainty I like his music more than Nancy, and most likely more than John or Colin, since they haven’t gone to the trouble of listening to all of his albums. Narrowing everything I’ve heard [...]

Bowie Blowout: John’s Top Ten

John — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:28:00 +0000

Like many children who grew up in the age of video, my introduction to David Bowie came from the 1986 cult classic Labyrinth. In the film, Bowie played the tuneful yet terrifying Jareth the Goblin King. Flashforward to junior high when I come to the realization that Jareth is that guy who sings that song [...]

Bowie Blowout: Colin’s Top Ten

Colin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:20:41 +0000

Now that Sean has given us a fairly exhaustive chronicle of David Bowie’s career, I suppose it’s time we move on to writing about something else. Or at least, that’s what I’d be saying if there were actually some decent movies or albums coming out soon. But there aren’t, so I guess we’ll just keep [...]

Some Strokes Bullshit

John — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:24:37 +0000

The Strokes – Comedown Machine I feel the same way about The Strokes that I do The Simpsons, it’s not that what they do today is bad, but when you compare it to what it once was it it seems bad. The Strokes released two of the greatest rock albums of the 2000s but have [...]

Bon Voyage, Rock Band

Sean — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:00:09 +0000

As you may or may not know, this week, and today in particular, is noteworthy for one reason, and one reason only: Harmonix ceasing to put out Rock Band DLC. They’ve put out new songs for the franchise every week since November 2007, that’s over five years ago for those of you who are bad [...]

God Only Knows

Sean — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:28:14 +0000

Bioshock Infinite Not that many games get people talking about their stories, and few receive as much hype and controversy as Bioshock Infinite. In all the noise of that discussion and analysis, not enough time is spent discussing the actual gameplay. Which is a shame, because I had enough fun playing Infinite to recommend it [...]

I Ain’t Raiding No Tombs

Sean — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:43:13 +0000

Tomb Raider Tomb Raider is the latest in a long line of series reboots that just couldn’t think of a clever title, so it just called itself the same name as the first game. Except, it’s not entirely clear if this is a new Lara Croft, or the untold origins of the same Lara from [...]

Retrospecticus: David Bowie, Part 3 – Forever Cool

Sean — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 10:00:48 +0000

We conclude our journey back into the depths of David Bowie’s musical career with his work that brought him the most popularity and commercial success and his increasing difficulty staying both relevant and artistically interesting. To quote The Wrestler, “Nineties sucked.” Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (1980) Something I didn’t mention about the Berlin Trilogy [...]

T3 53: Top 10 Reasons To Not Be Excited About The Mariners Season

Sean — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:33:52 +0000

Last year, we still had some hope. We did an entire episode dedicated to how the 2012 Mariners season was a thing we were capable of looking forward to… We were so naive. Not this year, no sir. We know the score now, we’re pretty used to being disappointed by the M’s. So we’re taking [...]

T3 52: Behind The Defenestrators

Matt — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:59:58 +0000

With Sean ailing from a mysterious strand of super ebola, the rest of the gang was forced to improvise and settled on doing something that we all are good at, reminiscing. So to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our beloved band The Defenestrators, here’s a complete oral history of the band from it’s humble beginnings [...]

Retrospecticus: David Bowie, Part 2 – Ich Bin Ein Bowier

Sean — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:32:41 +0000

David Bowie was a thing now. With Ziggy Stardust he had created a new kind of theatrical, character-based music that would pave the way for Chris Gaines, Sasha Fierce and Hannah Montana. But by the mid-1970s, the Spiders from Mars had started to go away, and Bowie himself retired Ziggy and moved to the United [...]

New Moon Rising

Colin — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:52:39 +0000

The Men – New Moon In the world of music, progress can be a tricky thing. Usually, a band gets noticed for coming up with a particular sound, and then are expected to either pursue that sound and satiate their fans’ appetite for said sound, or they can try and venture in to new, unexplored [...]

SimShitty

Sean — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:49:17 +0000

SimCity The new version of SimCity makes a lot of really interesting design decisions, including one that has basically ruined the game. That is the developer Maxis’ choice to make the game require an Internet connection at all times. According to them, this choice was made so that they could offload a lot of the [...]

T3 51: Top 10 Fairy Tale Movies We Want to See

Sean — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:00:27 +0000

The ol’ switcheroo. We came into this, much like our boardgames episode, planning on talking about the absolute worst ideas for adapting fairy tales into movies. But after a little while, our ideas were either so obscure or so literal that they became rather appealing. Our proposed movies would never actually get made, but if [...]

Retrospecticus: David Bowie, Part 1 – Dude Looks Like a Lady

Sean — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:42:59 +0000

Starting today and continuing for the next few weeks, I’ll be looking back at the entire recorded catalog of one of my favorite recording artists, David Bowie. Why? Well, because his new album comes out tomorrow and I hear it’s quite good. This project is going to take a while, so let’s get started. First [...]

The Peaceful Times

John — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:10:24 +0000

Atoms for Peace – Amok It’s been out for awhile, but we couldn’t let this one slip under the radar. Amok is the debut album from “supergroup” Atoms for Peace, aka Thom Yorke’s second solo album. I say this not only for the record’s striking resemblance to Yorke’s 2006 solo debut The Eraser but also [...]

The Bots and the Bees

John — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 09:52:56 +0000

They Might Be Giants – Nanobots A new They Might Be Giants album couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve recently rekindled my love for Malcolm in the Middle (of which TMBG were frequent musical contributors) and am considering seeing the two John’s this June. Before Nanobots, my timeline for TMBG ended at about [...]

T3 50: Top Blog Memories of 2008

Sean — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:30:23 +0000

This is a weird, self-indulgent episode (like that’s a change of pace for us). Three weeks ago, this blog turned five years old. We’ve come a long way, from a copyright-infringing mess to something that’s kinda, sorta actually cool. This podcast has been on a similar journey, having been a labor of love for over [...]

C.A.W: A Space in Time

John — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 01:55:21 +0000

Ten Years After – A Space in Time (1971) With the news of Alvin Lee’s passing I had to find a way to pay tribute. Normally we save classic album reviews for tuesdays but I just couldn’t wait. So here I present you with only the second ever “CAW” or “Classic Album Wednesday”. The album [...]

T3 49: Top 10 Albums of 2008

Sean — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:59:35 +0000

We’re so 2000-and late. For me, 2008 was the first year I really started looking for new music on my own. We had just started this blog and I was working at my college radio station and listening to a lot of stuff I didn’t like, and some that I did. I started reading music [...]

The Vault: Blax History Month

John — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:41:14 +0000

Dolemite (1975) I wanted to end on something light for “Blax History Month”, though I’m still not sure if “light” was Dolemite’s intention. I selected the film because of it’s eccentric star Rudy Ray Moore, one of the strangest yet mostly oddly compelling blaxploitation figures. Moore has this bizarre way of acting where he yells [...]

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

John — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 03:33:29 +0000

Johnny Marr – The Messenger Finally, one of the greatest sidemen in rock ‘n roll takes center stage. He’s been in The Smiths, The Cribs and Modest Mouse (to name a few) but it wasn’t until now that Johnny Marr has a solo album to his name. As the Richards to Morrisey’s Jagger, you’d imagine [...]

The Path Less Traveled

Sean — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:58:02 +0000

Path of Exile Since I’ve been on an action RPG kick since Diablo III came out last year, I decided to check out Path of Exile, which is currently in open beta. It is a free-to-play game, which plans to sustain itself through cosmetic microtransactions and, as I quickly found out, through the goodwill of [...]

The Vault: Blax History Month

John — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:41:21 +0000

Blacula (1972) Finally, something I can sink my fangs into. As a horror fan I was intrigued to see Dracula re-imagined as a seventies soul brutha. Did Blacula deliver? Actually, it did. Blacula doesn’t aspire to be anything more than funky b-movie fun, and it works. Of course it launched a whole sub-genre of Horror/Blaxploitation [...]

T3 48: Top 10 Power Ballads

Sean — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:59:26 +0000

Here at Mildly Pleased, Valentine’s is more than a day. It’s a whole weekend. Love weekend. That’s why we get Monday off, right? Anyway, we’re sorry we couldn’t be the third wheel on your lovefest all weekend, but as we say more often than we should, better late than never. Our love theme this year [...]

The Vault: Blax History Month

John — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 07:20:18 +0000

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song”, that’s possibly the best title for a movie ever conceived. Melvin Van Peebles’ bizarrely titled urban art-film is not your typical blaxploitation film. Whereas I criticized Shaft for still feeling like a reflection of white Hollywood, Sweetback is anything but. The film’s opening text sums it [...]

NBD

Colin — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:42:40 +0000

My Bloody Valentine – MBV I, like a lot music geeks, felt an undeniable rush upon the surprise news last Saturday that My Bloody Valentine had released their long-awaited follow-up to 1991′s Loveless. However, I didn’t expect to get as excited as I did considering it’s not like Loveless is one of my favorite albums [...]

Land O’Links

Sean — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:00:40 +0000

Nintendo Land I had this really great plan. After receiving a nice chunk of (Amazon credit) change for mine and Jesus’ birthdays, I was going to save it all. I would use it responsibly over the course of 2013, splurging on choice Blu Rays and video games when I really wanted them, acting like an [...]

License To Pill

Colin — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 01:09:12 +0000

Side Effects Looking back at past years, it seems that I’m usually not compelled to get back in the theater after the dust from the year-end Oscar season has settled until about March, when films actually start to rise to the level of passable. But much like last February with Haywire, Steven Soderbergh has given [...]

Devil May Care

Sean — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:00:56 +0000

DmC: Devil May Cry I have played most of the Devil May Cry franchise. I skipped the second one, because all the people who played it said it was bad, but otherwise I’ve loyally followed the series. I also like developer Ninja Theory, based solely off the terrific Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. So to [...]

T3 47: Top 10 Candies

Sean — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:37:47 +0000

Here’s a treat for you! What, you think I could resist writing that? You think I’m so strong that I can simply not write the easy lead? No, I’m not. I found it so damned delectable I couldn’t help myself. It was just so sweet. You know, I try. I try to be better than [...]

A Mission from God

John — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:50:07 +0000

Jim James – Regions of Light and Sound of God One of my favorite qualities about Jim James is that he’s unpredictable. One of my least favorite qualities about Jim James is that he’s… unpredictable. You’d never know if Jim was ready to drop the next Z or some outlandish display of spaced out ballads. [...]

The Vault: Blax History Month

John — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:17:52 +0000

Shaft (1971) Shaft may not have been the first Blaxploitation film, but it was the first blaxploitation film to become a cultural phenomenon. Black audiences finally had their own action hero and he didn’t take jive from nobody. He was the black private dick that was a sex machine to all the chicks. But if [...]

Cold Hands Warm Heart

John — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:49:31 +0000

Warm Bodies Warm Bodies is a Zom-rom-com from writer/director Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness). Adapted from Seattle author Isaac Marion’s 2011 novel of the same name, Warm Bodies is a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of the zombie apocalypse. Nicholas Hoult of About a Boy fame plays R, a lonely zombie [...]

The Vault: Blax History Month

John — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 05:46:25 +0000

In honor of Black History Month, this month’s edition of The Vault will be dedicated to Blaxploitation Cinema. It’s a genre I’ve never delved into so I’m going to start off with the basics. Later in the month I’ll cover a few of the more over-the-top entries (perhaps something in the vein of Blackenstein?). With [...]

Goodnight From 30 Rockefeller Center

Colin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:51:46 +0000

I felt like we should acknowledge last night’s final episode of 30 Rock in some way, since we didn’t actually talk about it on our latest podcast and it seems like on our annual TV podcasts we usually tend be a little dismissive of this show. Perhaps it’s been an easy show to take for [...]

T3 46: Top 10 Series Finales

Sean — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:59:26 +0000

How about that 30 Rock finale, huh? Pretty sweet. There are a few ways to end a series, the most popular of which is cancellation. But the few that do get to go out on their own terms have some tough choices to make: Do they dramatically end everything? Do they get sentimental, reflecting on [...]

Fade Into Yo

Colin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:50:25 +0000

Yo La Tengo – Fade And now I will confirm Sean’s theory that I gravitate towards music from the ’80s and ’90s by reviewing the latest Yo La Tengo record. This band’s kind of an odd case in the world of indie rock, a genre that seems to be enamored with the latest scene and subgenre, while [...]

Love is Like Foxygen

John — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:54:57 +0000

Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic I get it. “Fox” and “Oxygen” makes “Foxygen”. Well done Foxygen, well done. Surely, I never would have discovered this duo were it not for Pitchfork and it’s powerful hipster-music radar. What sparked my interest here was the retro 60s sound. As Sean [...]

Unfinished Love

Sean — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:40:09 +0000

Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love Oh, so this is what this feels like. Just a few weeks ago I was defending bands that changed their sound and now I have to take the other side, because Ra Ra Riot, what are you guys doing? You were the chosen one! It was said that you [...]

The Vault: Manuary

John — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:40:03 +0000

Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990) Man, what a piece of shit. Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection aka Delta Force 2: Operation Stranglehold is bottom of the barrel when it comes to action movies. Bad acting, no plot, and ultimately forgettable. I’m shocked DF2 didn’t go straight to VHS. If you’re curious, I [...]

T3 45: Top 10 Anticipated Movies of 2013

Sean — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:27:40 +0000

The least anticipated podcast of the year! 2013 is doomed to be a disappointing year, this is known. It is probably going to be the year the public starts to turn against super hero movies and maybe sci fi in general. Not that that’ll stop us from looking forward to the movies we’ll get to [...]

The Vault: Manuary

John — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 08:25:56 +0000

Kickboxer (1989) Kickboxer was my first experience watching “The Muscles from Brussels.” If you don’t remember the 90s, Jean-Claude Vane Damme was a second-tier action star famously known for his ability to do extreme splits and speak almost unintelligible dialogue. He was No Schwarzenegger or Stallone, but I’m sure he’d of had no problem kicking [...]

At War with the Mystics

John — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:23:52 +0000

Mystical Weapons – Mystical Weapons I didn’t truly appreciate Sean Lennon’s musical talent until his superb 2006 solo album Friendly Fire. Finally, the son of a legend had stepped out of his father’s immense shadow and found his own voice. Yet Sean hasn’t reached the same level since. Sean’s various side-projects haven’t come close to [...]

T3 44: Top 10 Movies of 2012

Sean — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:01:18 +0000

Well, you’ve seen our individual lists. Now it’s time to see just who was the closest to guessing our overall top 10 movies of 2012. Now don’t worry, we tried to avoid getting to deep into spoilers and most of the movies in consideration are at least somewhat well-known. You shouldn’t have any hesitation going [...]

Colin’s Top 10 Movies Of 2012

Colin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 05:30:24 +0000

2012 was a really great year for movies, as there were a lot of ones I really enjoyed that I won’t even give an honorable mention, unlike Skyfall, The Deep Blue Sea, and Argo. However, at this point I’m pretty much spent as far as talking about 2012 movies. I already reviewed a lot of [...]

John’s Top 10 Movies of 2012

John — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 05:09:07 +0000

What a year! And Miraculously, I saw almost everything I wanted to see. The only exceptions being; Wreck-it-Ralph and This is Not a Film. Films I liked but not enough to make my top ten include; Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Cabin in the Woods, The Dark Knight Rises, Django Unchained, Jiro Dreams of [...]

Sean’s Top 10 Movies of 2012

Sean — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:14:40 +0000

The movie industry needs to change. We have all these great ways of delivering content nowadays, and yet it still sucks trying to see movies that aren’t the AAA release of the last few weeks. In December, I really wanted to catch up with some of the big movies of 2012. First I checked Netflix, [...]

The Vault: Manuary

John — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 09:14:09 +0000

Cobra (1986) If there was ever a soulless, cash-in, it’s Cobra. “What’s the laziest possible vehicle we could give Sylvester Stallone?” At least that’s what I thought. Turns out Stallone wrote the screenplay himself. Apparently, he had the uncontrollable desire to tell a story about a police officer named Cobra who mercilessly guns down criminals [...]

T3 43: Top 10 TV Shows of 2012

Sean — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:25:58 +0000

We go back from whence we came and do another best TV shows of the year list. A lot has changed in the year since we did in the first episode of this podcast, the top 10 shows of 2011. On NBC alone, Community went from cult phenomenon to a point of concern and longtime [...]

Sean’s Top 10 Albums of 2012

Sean — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:52:50 +0000

I had a really hard time making my list and now I’m at the point where I’m not even really sure if 2012 was a really good year for music or a really solid year for music. Up until, well, now, I had 20 albums I felt were worthy of being called my favorites of [...]

John’s Top Ten Albums of 2012

John — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:02:27 +0000

In 2012, I listened to as many albums as years Bradley Cooper has been alive. Finding good music never gets any easier but it’s out there. This year wasn’t much different than last year, or the year before. There was stuff I liked, stuff I didn’t (cough, cough, Beach Boys’ reunion album) and a helluva [...]

Colin’s Top Ten Albums of 2012

Colin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:17:54 +0000

I was pretty disappointed when Sean pointed out that my total post count for the year was a measly 20 posts. But I guess it makes sense considering I had a fairly busy year compared to most, and yet I still managed to find enough time to listen to 40 albums, a new record for [...]

The Vault: Manuary

John — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:32:34 +0000

Highlander (1986) Manuary begins with the testosterone-fueled winner of the Academy Award for “Best Movie Ever Made.” Highlander is the legendary tale of Connor Macleod (Christopher Lambert) an immortal warrior who’s story spans from 14th century Scotland to 1980s New York. Connor is part of a rare breed of immortals that fight other immortals to [...]

‘Merican Manhunters

Colin — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:41:42 +0000

Zero Dark Thirty And here’s yet another review of a really long movie. I don’t why this Oscar season has been so rife with movies that seem intent on testing audiences’ patience. Maybe it’s a reaction to TV’s ever-evolving ability to tell such expansive and complex stories, and this has in many ways felt like [...]

“I Had a Dreaaaaaaam!”

John — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 06:56:43 +0000

Les Misérables Les Misérables was my most mixed film-going experience of the year. Pretentious, melodramatic, and overlong, were all preconceived fears that quickly became truths in my viewing experience of this film. Concurently, the film tells such a grand story that’s presented in such a grand package. I greatly admire the ambition of scope, but [...]

The Mildly Pleased Awards

Sean — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 07:59:35 +0000

2013! The super future! No one planned for humanity making it this far. Instead of staring down into the scary void that is the unknown future, let us instead look back at the year that was 2012. What we’ve got planned is about a month of best of 2012 lists. Why? Because we don’t have [...]

The Vault: Manuary

John — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:51:41 +0000

This whole month is about man-on-man action… Let me start over. We’ve all heard about “Manuary” from places like college campuses and Urban Dictionary. Manuary is the time of year where men grow out facial hair and assert their masculinity to an almost homoerotic degree. Though it would make more sense to devote this month [...]

Come on Baby, Light My Torch

Sean — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 07:59:06 +0000

Torchlight II Torchlight II is an excellent counterpoint to Diablo III. Despite them outwardly appearing to be incredibly similar games, they actually differ in a lot of key areas. That, coupled with the hyper fanatic nature of the video game industry, meant an imaginary war went on between these two titles last years, as fans [...]

Once Upon A Time In Candyland

Colin — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:24:23 +0000

Django Unchained As much as I’ve been a fan of writer/director Quentin Tarantino throughout the years, it’s always been apparent to me that the violence in his films has always been my least favorite thing about his work. His latest film Django Unchained, sees him turning the subject of slavery in to a bloody revenge [...]

Draggin’ the Line

Sean — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Spec Ops: The Line This has been a pretty great year for video games that challenge the term “video game.” After all, what does that mean, really? Doesn’t the term “game” indicate there must be winners and losers? That an experience must be fun? That it can’t be taken seriously? Spec Ops: The Line seems, [...]

The Vault: Crazy Christmas

John — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 23:13:53 +0000

Santa’s Slay (2005) This is how Santa’s Slay begins: The dysfunctional Mason family is sitting down to a pleasant Christmas dinner. The family includes such stars as; Fran Drescher? Chris Kattan? Rebecca Gayheart? And James Caan as the family patriarch. Suddenly, Santa (Bill Goldberg) bursts through the brick fireplace, slides across the dinner table and [...]

Zero Dark Forty

Colin — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 07:08:04 +0000

This Is 40 It seems like there are some writer-directors who’s sensibilities are so close to my own that I’m likely to enjoy their movies, even if it’s not their most critically lauded work. One example would be To Rome With Love from earlier this year, which I’ll admit wasn’t one of Woody Allen’s best [...]

2012 Music Recap: Kill for Love

Sean — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 20:00:37 +0000

Chromatics – Kill for Love I don’t know you guys. Kill for Love is a long electronic album that got a pretty “meh” review from the A.V. Club, but placed really well on Pitchfork’s best albums of the year list. Last time that happened, it was M83′s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, one of my favorites [...]

2012 Music Recap: Sun

Sean — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 08:00:29 +0000

Cat Power – Sun I had never listened to a Cat Power album before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. What Sun turned out to be was an album somewhere between electronic and folk music, as awesome as that sounds. I can’t honestly say if this is a departure or par for the [...]

2012 Music Recap: Celebration Rock

Sean — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:00:21 +0000

Japandroids – Celebration Rock I think Colin thought I would review this and I thought Colin would review it, because somehow we never made an actual post about the great new Japandroids album. Unless someone did review it, in which case I simply could not find it with our search box and I’m sorry. We [...]

2012 Music Recap: Visions

Sean — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 08:00:34 +0000

Grimes – Visions Visions by Grimes is fucking weird, man. Grimes, if you didn’t know, is a Canadian lady who is only a few months older than I, and we both have put albums together in GarageBand. But while I just stick to the loops and insert very little musical know-how, Grimes has put together [...]

2012 Music Recap: Given to the Wild

Sean — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:00:47 +0000

The Maccabees – Given to the Wild I guess the criticism for Given to the Wild is that the Maccabees, who apparently have been around for a while, basically abandoned whatever they originally were and made an album trying to sound like Coldplay or David Bowie. Probably a great criticism, but I’d never actually heard [...]

2012 Music Recap: An Awesome Wave

Sean — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:00:45 +0000

∆ – An Awesome Wave The band is called Alt-J, because that’s how you type the symbol that is their name, not because they make alternative Japanese music, as you might have thought. The symbol is for that triangle that you use in math for “change” – so, you know, it’s really a deep, clever [...]

The Vault: Crazy Christmas

John — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:41:04 +0000

Frost/Frost Have you been dreaming of a White Christmas? Are you looking forward to running out into the frozen yard and building a snowman? Better be careful, because that snowman might come to life and be your dad. Or it might come to life and try to kill you. Either way, it’s gonna be about [...]

T3 42: Top 10 Christmas Songs

Sean — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:05:37 +0000

Oh, Christmas and its inescapable songs. The holiday that was all-too-perfect for a capitalist nation has grown into an oppressive force, gobbling up everything in its path. It started, innocently enough, with December 24th being turned into Christmas Eve, but soon the entire month of December was under control of ol’ Saint Nick. Not satisfied [...]

2012 Music Recap: The Haunted Man

Sean — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:03:19 +0000

Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man The Haunted Man is the result of Bat for Lashes, the stage name for Natasha Khan, suffering from writer’s block after her second album. She turned to Thom Yorke, who told her to start drawing, and dancing, I guess. Thus her third album, which is maybe a departure [...]

2012 Music Recap: My Head is an Animal

Sean — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 02:00:16 +0000

Of Monsters and Men – My Head is an Animal When I first heard My Head is an Animal, I thought, “My God, this new Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes album is so much better than the first.” But, no, this isn’t that band I once heard Patton Oswalt mock almost to their faces. [...]

2012 Music Recap: Plumb

Sean — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:00:52 +0000

Field Music – Plumb I read a couple reviews of Plumb that compares Field Music’s sound as Beatles meets prog rock. So that’s pretty cool for a guy like me, who enjoys both The White Album and The Yes Album. I think there’s a little Grizzly Bear in there too. At 15 tracks long, you [...]

2012 Music Recap: Something

Sean — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:00:37 +0000

Chairlift – Something Here’s that indie synth pop stuff that I guess I’ve become associated with. I don’t mind, I like it. Although I’m a little iffy about Something, because I’m not sure if I like all of it, or just really like “I Belong in Your Arms” and appreciate the rest of it. Right [...]

2012 Music Recap: Tramp

Sean — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 04:00:54 +0000

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp Especially on the lead single “Serpents,” Sharon Van Etten sounds a bit like the National. No coincidence, since Aaron Dessner produced Tramp, her third album. I wouldn’t say this album has quite made it to The National’s level, since its folky, somewhat country-esque quality makes a lot of the tracks [...]

2012 Music Recap: Diluvia

Sean — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:00:09 +0000

I’ve made no secret of my distaste for writing, and honestly, speaking, about music. I just don’t think I’m that good at it. What I am good at is listening to music. In 2012, I’ve thus far listened to over 80 albums, much to the chagrin of my fellow bloggers. As we approach our onslaught [...]

Bravest Little Hobbit of Them All

Sean — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:07:01 +0000

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I really liked Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. I was someone who did not really get into the books, and those movies came out at the perfect time for me to get really into them. But this whole Hobbit movie thing has always seemed like a bad idea. [...]

Dog Eat Dog

Sean — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 08:00:50 +0000

Sleeping Dogs Sleeping Dogs is a game that probably shouldn’t exist. A new studio called United Front Games was working on an open world action game that Activision thought looked profitable. So they decided to turn it into the third True Crime game, assuming that would make it more successful, even though the second True [...]

The Vault: Crazy Christmas

John — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:03:15 +0000

Santa with Muscles (1996) In the early 90s Hulkamania was everywhere! There were toys, games, a Hulk Hogan-themed pasta restaurant, and of course movies. For whatever reason the Hulkster found himself in the dismal realm of family comedies. There’s a popular derogatory saying on Mildly Pleased, I believe it’s something like “This shit is for [...]

T3 41: Top 10 Doomsday Scenarios

Sean — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:07:53 +0000

It’s a bleak and well-known reality that all of life on earth will be wiped out in a little more than a week. After all, that’s when the Mayan calendar runs out. And we all know how well the Mayans could predict the future. That’s why there are so many Mayans today, and our society [...]

The Vault: Crazy Christmas

John — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:58:15 +0000

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) Watching Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was a miserable experience. It doesn’t matter how many bad B-movies you see, it never gets any easier. Additionally, some of the worst B-movies I’ve ever seen are from the 60s. Perhaps you can blame it in on the rise of independent cinema [...]

The Vault: Crazy Christmas

John — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:06:08 +0000

Good tidings to you and your kin! It’s Christmastime at Mildly Pleased! This year I present you with a very special gift, make that four gifts. For every week in December I’m going to review a Crazy Christmas-themed movie. Cult classics, B-Movies, and just plain bad movies will make up this years haul. So let’s [...]

Super PlayStation Bros.

Sean — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:19:40 +0000

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Truly innovated games are going to be imitated, it comes with the territory. When a game does something new and fun, it’s going to catch on. If it’s truly great, it can even grow into its own genre. That’s why we have first person [...]

T3 40: Top 10 Movie Trailers

Sean — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:54:36 +0000

This week’s episode is such a tease. But don’t worry, we didn’t edit it down to just the best parts. No, no, we still don’t edit these things. But we did talk about our favorite movie trailers of all time. Or at least now. Since movie trailers keep getting better, we could probably do this [...]

We Finally Got a Piece of the Pi

John — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 23:53:28 +0000

Life of Pi I didn’t get to see Life of Pi in 3D. The theater/church I went to simply didn’t have that kind of technology/divine intervention. When I read a review by TIME Magazine on the poster outside that read: “The Next Avatar” I almost didn’t go in. Some movies use 3D as a quick [...]

Live Creed or Die

Sean — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 04:20:47 +0000

Assassin’s Creed III When the first Assassin’s Creed came out, I was a freshman in college. I remember the day my copy showed up from GameFly, because I was playing it in my dorm room with the door open and two guys came by and where all, “Woah, is that the Assassin’s Creed game?” And [...]

T3 39: Top 10 Alfred Hitchcock Movies

Sean — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 07:11:07 +0000

He made a movie or two, now movies are made about him. That’s just how influential Alfred Hitchcock is to cinema. But if you’ve ever wondered if maybe Hitchcock was a quantity over quality man – after all, he did make what I believe is legally called a shitload of films – let us direct [...]

ChesnuTTs Roasting on an Open Fire.

John — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:21:36 +0000

Cody ChesnuTT – Landing on a Hundred Last week I wrote about Cody ChesnuTT’s ambitious The Headphone Masterpiece. Following his lo-fi epic is Landing on a Hundred, ChesnuTT’s first album in ten years. Who knows why and how ChesnuTT fell off the radar for so long. All that matters is that he’s returned with a [...]

Blitz Happens

John — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:55:37 +0000

Silver Linings Playbook Following the success of The Fighter writer/director David O. Russell has returned with another sharp dramedy that does what he does best: family disfunction. Based off of Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel of the same name, Silver Linings Playbook is the story of Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) a man recently released from a [...]

Halo, Is It Me You’re Looking For?

Sean — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 10:01:24 +0000

Halo 4 Given the way Halo 3 ended and that state of the franchise, it’s hard to not find Halo 4 at least a little bit disappointing. The third game ended with the Master Chief adrift in space, heading off to new adventures. Series creator Bungie put out O.D.S.T. and Reach, two fun side stories [...]

I Wreck It, I Fix It

Sean — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 08:01:16 +0000

Wreck-It Ralph Here is Disney really trying to be Pixar. Wreck-It Ralph, a movie that opens with a cute, unrelated short film, is essentially a new take on Toy Story. It is set in a world much like our own, save for one difference: video game characters are alive and do things while arcades are [...]

Lincoln to the Past

Sean — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 05:35:21 +0000

Lincoln How long have we been waiting for Spielberg’s Lincoln? Wikipedia tells me that Liam Neeson was cast to play the man back in 2005, no score and seven years ago. Back then, John and I said it was perfect timing for a Lincoln biopic, as he was a popular talking point for politicians at [...]

C.A.T: The Headphone Masterpiece

John — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:42:11 +0000

Cody ChesnuTT – The Headphone Masterpiece (2002) About three weeks ago Cody ChesnuTT released his first album in ten years. Of course this got me to thinking about ChesnuTT’s vastly overlooked 2002 debut The Headphone Masterpiece. It also made me realize that Cody ChesnuTT is one of the greatest rock stars that never was. There’s [...]

T3 38: Top 10 GameCube Games

Sean — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 00:37:53 +0000

Does the Wii U have what it takes to be a success? Something that can compare well to the Wii’s legacy? The Dreamcast was a generational half-step, and look what happened there. On the other hand, the Xbox 360 got a year’s head start on this generation and turned that into a steady lead. If [...]

C.A.T: Harvest

John — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:27:37 +0000

Neil Young – Harvest (1972) What better time to remember Harvest than on the day after Neil Young’s birthday? Harvest was initially intended to be Neil’s first country album. In preparation, Neil put together a talented backing band dubbed “The Stray Gators” that consisted of such pros as; pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, former James [...]

I Guess I’m All About Windows Now

Sean — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:57:50 +0000

I wasn’t sold on smartphones until the iPhone came out. Even then, I waited a full year, until the rise of the app store and the release of the iPhone 3G, to ditch my RAZR and step into the new world. I loved it. My iPhone 3G was an amazing device, and while I was [...]

Skyballs

Matt — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 09:27:23 +0000

Skyfall I was going to try to fit bone into the headline somehow…but with our recent conversations about 007 and his genitalia, but I thought this was more appropriate. Or inappropriate. That’s what you call diverse writing. This was the first movie I’ve ever seen in a theater by myself. Well I wasn’t really by [...]

T3 37: Top 10 James Bond Songs

Sean — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 07:45:41 +0000

McCartney. Paul McCartney. He gets a lot of credit for his lyrics, but I’ve got to say “this ever changing world in which we live in” is not one of his gems. “In which we live in”? Come on, you can do better. I bring this up because this week we’re talking about the very [...]

Business As Usual

Colin — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 06:43:31 +0000

Titus Andronicus – Local Business For a bunch of self-loathing schlubs from Jersey, Titus Andronicus sure created something ambitious with their last album, The Monitor. At the time, I didn’t feel like I’d ever heard any band that had managed to take punk rock and turn it into something as sprawling and epic as that [...]

Gentle Ben

John — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 23:55:48 +0000

Ben Gibbard – Former Lives People like Death Cab for Cutie right? They’re hip with the kids. They even had a song in one of those Twilights I’ve heard so much about. Then why is it that frontman Ben Gibbard’s debut solo album was so quickly forgotten? Maybe people just didn’t know. I certainly didn’t [...]

The Pill Submerges Me

John — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:21:01 +0000

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Psychedelic Pill Happy Post-Election Day America! In honor of the Election I’m going to review the latest album from Neil Young. What’s more American than Canadian Neil Young? Though Neil Young wasn’t born here he’s certainly embraced America, while fiercely protecting everything it stands for. All that aside, he’s [...]

Capture the Viceroy

John — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:05:42 +0000

Mac Demarco – 2 At first I thought Mac Demarco looked like a douche. Well he doesn’t sound like a douche. Mac Demarco sounds sort of like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy if he just kicked back and laid down a wall of jingly-jangly guitars. “Jingly-jangly” really is the best word you could use to sum up [...]

Some Kind of Movie – Ep 2: Flight of the Mumblebees

Sean — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 05:51:04 +0000

Here’s a thing that we made. Colin and I talk about the new movie Flight, it’s director Robert Zemeckis and his return to live-action cinema, and its star Denzel Washington. Although, I should point out, if you want to avoid spoilers, skip from 11:20-17:20. Hey, listen! Top Ways to Listen: [iTunes] Subscribe to T3 on [...]

The Old Man and Mickey

Sean — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:59:00 +0000

In lieu of a real podcast, more thoughts on Lucasfilm being sold to Disney. Because everyone else is doing it! What? What are you doing that’s so great? Go back to eating that candy you knew wouldn’t hand out all of last night, you jerk. I’m sorry. I… I’ve got a lot on my mind. [...]

Salute to Shocktober

John — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:55:22 +0000

So Shocktober: I Love the 80s comes to a close. This year I saw the rise of slashers in film’s like The Prowler and The Burning, works from horror auteurs like George A. Romero, John Carpenter, and Tobe Hooper, and landmarks that were reached in the world of makeup effects. If there’s one thing I [...]

Shocktober: Bone-Chilling Breakdown

John — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:16:45 +0000

Here’s a little freaky fun and an easy way to up our post count! It’s my personal breakdown of this year’s Shocktober. I returned to a lot of favorites this year while discovering a few new favorites… And some new films that I hate. Either way here’s this year in a nutshell. Read at your [...]

Shocktober: Day 31

John — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:15:29 +0000

Road House (1989) Road House is scary… Scary good. Honestly, I couldn’t come up with another horror movie for 1989 worth talking about. Yesterday was Pet Sematary and that pretty much wraps up the decade for me. So instead of going out on a sour note, I’m pulling a full 360 with a roundhouse kick [...]

C.A.T: Black Sabbath

John — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 03:57:04 +0000

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970) During last year’s Shocktober I reviewed some of my favorite “Horror-Themed” rock albums but I left out one essential. The debut album from Black Sabbath is a creepy, bluesy, hard rock experience well suited for this terrifying time of year. Just look at that album cover. What is that? [...]

Shocktober: Day 30

John — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 23:59:40 +0000

Pet Sematary (1989) Pet Sematary isn’t a great film by any means, yet it just wont die. I can’t tell you how often I still hear people impersonating the ominous warnings of Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne). If you’ve watched any South Park in the last five years you know what I’m talking about. “You outta [...]

The Mouse buys out Lucas

Matt — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 23:32:58 +0000

As the official MildlyPleased.com Star Wars Correspondent, I’m here to give you my take on the madness. Now that I’ve had a few hours to try to process this, I can safely say this is the biggest development in the entertainment world in my lifetime. It still feels fake. It came out of nowhere. All [...]

John’s Top Five Horror Films of 2012

John — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:53:03 +0000

Bad horror movies are a dime a dozen, but if you look carefully I think you’ll find there’s a lot to like in today’s scene. Foreign and independent films are a good place to start. Sometimes you can even luck out when a mainstream movie is actually released to good reviews. As a matter of [...]

Shocktober: Day 29

John — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:28:44 +0000

Child’s Play (1988) What’s scarier to a kid than one of their own toys coming to life and killing people? That’s why Child’s Play has persevered over the years. That and it’s charismatic villain Chucky. Child’s Play is most memorable to those of us that saw it as children. Not only because Chucky was a [...]

Argo F#@k Yourself

John — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 19:53:03 +0000

Some Kind of Movie – Ep 1: Argo F#@k Yourself I wanted to try something different with movie reviews here at Mildly Pleased. So here’s a podcast review I like to call “Some Kind of Movie.” You know, like Some Kind of Monster, but with more Ben Affleck. I am joined by my friend and [...]

Shocktober: Day 28

John — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 19:07:12 +0000

They Live (1988) On the surface, John Carpenter’s They Live appears to be your typical 80s action flick. A story about a violent loner, played by a professional wrestler, fighting aliens? Doesn’t sound great. Which is why it may come as a surprise when you discover through the power of magic shades that it’s so [...]

Shocktober: Day 27

John — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:07:58 +0000

Monkey Shines (1988) Monkey Shines in my mind is the most terrifying premise there’s ever been for a horror movie. A man becomes paralyzed, gets a helper monkey, and said helper monkey kills people. If you can imagine not only being immobilized but being tormented by something you can’t reason with. Not to mention monkeys [...]

Shocktober: Day 26

John — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 22:58:08 +0000

Bad Taste (1987) Bad Taste is like something a 12 year-old would come up with while playing in his backyard. Everything about it just screams prepubescent gore-hound. The simplistic storytelling, the nonstop violence, and the cast clearly made up of the director’s friends. Did I mention the director of this film was Peter Jackson? Known [...]

Sinister Purpose

John — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 22:57:21 +0000

Sinister Discovering a new horror movie that’s not only good but released in October is like finding a curly fry in a batch of regular fries. Sinister is the latest film from Scott Derrickson, director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and ugh, The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. Fortunately, I can proudly say [...]

Love, Love, Love

Sean — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:40:04 +0000

The xx – Coexist I don’t know what I can say about The xx except that they seem to have figured out how to hit exactly the frequencies that resonate in my brain. Their mellow, barren sound is one I know simply will not be appealing to some people, especially since I feel like they [...]

Shocktober: Day 25

John — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 06:56:54 +0000

Street Trash (1987) On our last episode of “Top Ten Thursdays” I briefly mentioned a bizarre horror sub-genre called “Melt Movies.” Yes, movies built around no more than the idea of bodies melting into gooey piles of fleshy mush. The Incredible Melting Man may be the most famous, despite being an awful movie, but Street [...]

T3 36: Top 10 Horror Movies

Sean — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:11:30 +0000

Are you prepared for a creeping, unsettling feeling? A feeling that leads you down a dark hallway of dread ending in a terror so sublime you’ll believe everything that is right and good in the world has been ripped away from you? Well, you’re going to have to get your fix somewhere else, weirdo. We [...]

Shocktober: Day 24

John — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:53:41 +0000

The Monster Squad (1987) Looking for a frightening film that’s fun for the whole family? Watch Monster Squad and you’ll have a blast. Directed by Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps) and written by Dekker and Shane Black (Lethal Weapons, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) Monster Squad is freaky fun for all ages. Just think of [...]

Shocktober: Day 23

John — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:55:00 +0000

The Gate (1987) I read about The Gate for the first time in an issue of “Horrorhound Magazine”. It was in a feature about PG horror movies. Ya know, stuff the whole family can enjoy. So I thought it would be an interesting departure to turn down the gore and explore the fears of a [...]

Shocktober: Day 22

John — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:42:55 +0000

The Stepfather (1987) You only need two words to describe why The Stepfather is a great thriller and they are “Terry” and “O’Quinn”. Terry O’Quinn stars in his breakout role as Henry Morrison/Jerry Blake, a chameleon-like murderer in search of the perfect family. One minute he’ll be stressing the importance of family values, the next [...]

Shocktober: Day 21

John — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:34:30 +0000

From Beyond (1986) I’ve always had mixed feelings about writer/director Stuart Gordon. He wrote and directed the cult-classic Re-Animator and also developed the story for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Then again, he also made the embarrassingly cheesy Robot Jox and the just plain bad Space Truckers. So a lot was weighing on my first [...]

Shocktober: Day 20

John — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:57:22 +0000

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) The first time I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 I was greatly disappointed. Its predecessor ranks among my top ten favorite horror films of all time. It was a disturbing and inventive piece of independent filmmaking. TCM 2 is an off-the-wall dark comedy. Not really what you would expect [...]

Shocktober: Day 19

John — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:23:29 +0000

Night of the Creeps (1986) Night of the Creeps is again a title I’d heard many times without actually knowing anything about the film. Written and directed by Fred Dekker (who directed a great film that will appear later this Shocktober) Night of the Creeps is a tongue and cheek homage to 50s B-movies. In [...]

T3 35: Top 10 Concept Albums

Sean — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:17:40 +0000

Happy birthday, original Nintendo Entertainment System! At least, we think so. It’s actually kind of hard to pinpoint exactly when the console came out. But, actually, that’s not what we’re talking about. That would be concept albums, in honor of an album that comes out on Tuesday that we’re all so excited about we can’t [...]

Shocktober: Day 18

John — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:32:51 +0000

The Hitcher (1986) You may know The Hitcher from its awful 2007 remake with Sean Bean. Unfortunately, I’ve seen that and can never un-see it. Though at least I can still go back to the original which is one of the best “Creepy stranger that just wont leave you alone” movies I’ve seen. The film [...]

Shocktober: Day 17

John — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:42:42 +0000

Return of the Living Dead (1985) How appropriate to follow Day of the Dead with Return of the Living Dead? For those that don’t know, there is a connection between these films. The original Night of the Living Dead was written by George A. Romero and John Russo. After the film’s success, Romero and Russo [...]

Shocktober: Day 16

John — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:45:30 +0000

Day of the Dead (1985) Although forever forsaken to live in the immense shadows of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead is still a fantastic zombie movie. Arguably the scariest of the series for taking gore effects to new heights. Day of the Dead is also a [...]

The Maleficent Seven

John — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:42:06 +0000

Seven Psychopaths Since the release of In Bruges I have been enthralled by the creative mind of Martin McDonagh. One of the longest academic papers I ever wrote was an examination of how McDonagh’s Bruges represents a purgatory where Colin Farrell’s character awaits judgement. So I couldn’t wait to see the rich themes McDonagh would [...]

Shocktober: Day 15

John — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:23:23 +0000

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) I am very seasonal with my movie choices. For instance, I refuse to watch movies with snow in the summer. So Horror-Christmas movies really mess me up. I still don’t know the appropriate time to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. Thus I’ve never had much interest in this bizarre sub-genre, [...]

Shocktober: Day 14

John — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 08:02:45 +0000

C.H.U.D. (1984) I can’t imagine there’s anyone who sincerely likes C.H.U.D. It has to be one of those movies that people only love in an ironic way. What’s the appeal exactly? First of all, I think it has something to do with that title. It has a nice ring to it and once you find [...]

Shocktober: Day 13

John — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 18:44:34 +0000

Christine (1983) It’s staggering how many of Stephen King’s stories have been adapted for the screen. There’s been some great ones and some not so great ones. Christine probably sits somewhere in the middle. I mean there’s only so much you can do with a movie about a killer car. So considering the premise, Christine [...]

Shocktober: Day 12

John — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:34:38 +0000

Sleepaway Camp (1983) Looks like were heading back to camp with the infamous cult slasher Sleepaway Camp. A seemingly typical slasher flick on the surface, Sleepaway Camp harbors a dark twist ending that some consider to be the most shocking ending to a horror film ever. I am not a member of that camp, nor [...]

Shocktober: Day 11

John — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:18:47 +0000

Psycho II (1983) I’m a big Psycho fan. I might even go as far as saying “I am psycho for Psycho“. So I couldn’t stand the thought of Norman Bates being reduced to anything less in a cash-grabbing sequel. Of course as time goes, curiosity grows. So about a year ago I sat down and [...]

Shocktober: Day 10

John — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 07:41:38 +0000

Slumber Party Massacre (1982) I know what you’re thinking, “This movie has to be terrible!” And maybe you’re right. But in all honesty… I liked this movie. Sounds crazy even to hear myself say it but it’s true. Slumber Party Massacre doesn’t aspire to be anything more than mindless entertainment and on that level it [...]

Home Alonerism

John — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:20:32 +0000

Tame Impala – Lonerism The late 60s is my favorite era of music so I try to keep tabs on anything psychedelic. Perth, Australia’s Tame Impala fits that category quite nicely. Led by singer/songwriter Kevin Parker, Lonerism is the band’s unrestrained sophomore release. I use the term “band” lightly as Parker appears to do most [...]

Shocktober: Day 9

John — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 07:33:44 +0000

The Entity (1982) This next title resonated with me because “The Entity” is what I call my cat. Aside from that I didn’t know much about The Entity going in. I’d seen it featured in some horror magazines, I’d seen horror fan Martin Scorsese speak positively about it, but regarding premise or even what kind [...]

Shocktober: Day 8

John — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:02:19 +0000

Ghost Story (1981) If you thought I was done talking about 80s ghost movies with Melvyn Douglas, you’d be damn wrong. Though I’d always heard mostly negative things about Ghost Story there were still two reasons I wanted to see it. One, the film’s makeup effects were done by the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist, [...]

Shocktober: Day 7

John — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:49:50 +0000

The Burning (1981) It’s amazing how many movies there are about kids being hacked to pieces at summer camp. It’s kind of sick when you consider this subject matter is a whole sub-genre of film. Maybe I haven’t seen every summer camp slasher, but I’ve seen enough to know it’s not a strong genre. That [...]

Shocktober: Day 6

John — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:35:42 +0000

The Howling (1981) In another world I’ve always imagined director Joe Dante could have just as easily been an animator. His creative use of violence with comedic undertones always gave me the impression of an absent-minded child with a great enthusiasm for movies. Dante’s work includes such films as; Gremlins, Piranha, Twilight Zone: The Movie, [...]

Shocktober: Day 5

John — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:31:40 +0000

The Prowler (1981) 1981 has often been considered a pivotal year in horror cinema. It gave us such classics as; An American Werewolf in London, Scanners, and The Howling, but more importantly marked the rise of the slasher film as a true force to be reckoned with. Many have been forgotten, but there’s still a [...]

T3 34: Top 10 Fictional Athletes

Sean — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 17:51:29 +0000

If we were going to post an episode late, you’d think it would have been last week’s show. Then I could have made jokes about how it traveled in time, which, while nothing’s coming to mind right now, I’m sure would have been fully amusing. But instead we’re a day late this week, meaning the [...]

Shocktober: Day 4

John — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:06:51 +0000

My Bloody Valentine (1981) My Bloody Valentine is one of the rare cases where I wasn’t aware of the film until it was remade. Does that mean something good came from a remake? Not really. I say that because there isn’t really anything special about My Bloody Valentine. The film was released during a time [...]

Out Of Hibernation

Colin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 04:48:48 +0000

Grizzly Bear – Shields It’s become pretty apparent to me that Grizzly Bear is a band that you have to spend a decent amount of time with to fully appreciate. Their last release, 2009′s Veckatimest was an album I admired at the time, but it hasn’t been until this year that I’ve really grown to [...]

Above the Law

John — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:51:53 +0000

Muse – The 2nd Law The mixed responses to Muse’s The 2nd Law do not surprise me at all. Fans were already uneasy with the direction the band had taken with their last album, the heavily classical-inspired The Resistance and The 2nd Law takes even more risks. Has Muse strayed too far from their roots? [...]

Shocktober: Day 3

John — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:39:44 +0000

Maniac (1980) Remember Tony Gazzo from Rocky? No? You know he was Rocky’s former boss in the fancy duds? If it’s starting to come back to you that was character actor Joe Spinell in arguably his most notable role. Spinell was also known by mainstream audiences for his role as Willi Cicci in The Godfather [...]

Master Craftsman

Colin — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:31:56 +0000

The Master It certainly says something about The Master that Sean, John, and I have all seen the film and yet for the last week and a half have been waffling over the very act of reviewing it. It’s a film full of lots of ideas and questions that I guess are just a little [...]

Days of Future Past

Sean — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:13:18 +0000

Looper I probably should be writing about The Master or doing homework, but I am going to pass the buck to Colin and procrastinate, respectively, in favor of writing about Looper, because it sounds more fun. I kind of touched on this on the time travel movies episode of T3, but I think time travel [...]

Shocktober: Day 2

John — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:32:06 +0000

The Changeling (1980) The Changeling is a significantly underrated ghost story from writer Russell Hunter. Right now you probably think I’m talking about that Clint Eastwood movie right? No, though The Changeling does involve another fiery-tempered old coot in screen-legend George C. Scott. Directed by Peter Medak, The Changeling is the story of composer Dr. [...]

Come at Me Bro

Sean — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:11:21 +0000

You can has pew pew

Shocktober: Day 1

John — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:04:31 +0000

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Some of the movies I’ll be talking about this year are famous, some are less famous, Cannibal Holocaust is one of the few that is infamous. For years I’ve heard the urban legend-like stories that have surrounded this exploitative docudrama. Stories that included; real-life violence, torture, and even murder! Cannibal Holocaust is [...]

Shocktober: I Love the 80s!

John — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:01:20 +0000

I can’t believe it! October all ready? So little time for me to write about so many movies. Can I pull it off? Now that’s the scary part. Yes, it’s Shocktober here at Mildly Pleased and that means 31 days of horror movie themed posts. In the past I’ve written about some of the classics, [...]

Hawk it to Me, Baby!

John — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:54:12 +0000

Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Yeah, this is a little late (really late if you have an Xbox 360), but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD. Released last summer onto to both the Xbox 360 and PS3′s online store, THPS HD is a remake… Barely. The idea [...]

Final Battle

John — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 22:52:51 +0000

The Killers – Battle Born In high school The Killers were my favorite band. I loved their ability to craft radio-friendly singles consistently and with what seemed to be the greatest of ease. But at some point I felt like I outgrew them. In recent years, I’ve found myself gravitating towards what I believe to [...]

T3 33: Top 10 Time Travel Movies

Sean — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:34:20 +0000

Do you believe in destiny? Were you fated to read this podcast description or did you truly arrive here of your own free will? If you could, would you go back and change your decision to be here? Would you change it all? Would you believe we found a way to talk about Back to [...]

Seer Me, Feel Me

John — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:29:15 +0000

Swans – The Seer What compelled me to listen to an almost two-hour, experimental nightmare from a band I’d never heard of? Was it the album’s almost universal praise? Was it the story of it’s 30 year journey to completion? Was it because of that scary rat-thing on the cover? Maybe it’s all of the [...]

Run, Don’t Walk

Sean — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:13:46 +0000

It turns out The Walking Dead is even better as a video game

Good Movie/Bad Movie: Drilling

Sean — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:50:11 +0000

And now for something completely different. With half of us scattering across the country, it seemed difficult and impractical to put together a whole show this week. But we didn’t want to leave you good people without anything this week, so we put together a special little show. With P.T. Anderson’s new film The Master [...]

Squatch, Look and Listen

Sean — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 08:13:18 +0000

We have a vested interest in this, but I think you should check out the new trailer for the latest movie from the Otteni brothers, Squatch.

T3 32: Top 10 Mancrushes

Sean — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:59:26 +0000

The ultimate test of a man’s masculinity is defying everything it stands for and being able to live with yourself afterward. That’s the test we subjected ourselves to this week on T3, as we turned from our typical Tucker Maxian ways and admitted our mancrushes. You know, those men who we admire and respect and [...]

The Hives Come Alive

John — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:23:45 +0000

The Hives

T3 31: Top 10 SNL Cast Members

Sean — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:15:44 +0000

September. Just the word conjures images of colorful leaves, school buses, the return of long pants. Fortunately, it also means new images will be conjured in that special box, the television, as the big shows begin their new seasons. One we are particularly interested in this year is Saturday Night Live, which had some of [...]

Hellubunga

John — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:19:22 +0000

Little Barrie - King of the Waves

A Whale of a Time

John — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Orca Team - Restraint

The Passion of the Pit

Colin — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:20:52 +0000

Passion Pit - Gossamer

It’s Blitz

Sean — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 14:17:36 +0000

Rock Band Blitz Do you still care about Rock Band? Probably not, only the addicts and the hardcore are still jamming these days. Hell, even Viacom decided it cared so little about the series it let Harmonix go. That was before Dance Central became the one universally acclaimed Kinect series, of course. Perhaps emboldened by [...]

Impressions of Guild Wars 2

Sean — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:55:06 +0000

Guild Wars 2 is out today, more than seven years since the first game was released. Back in 2005, I was dead set against paying a monthly fee for a game, especially one I had to buy first. So, while the world flocked to World of Warcraft, I played on silly private Ragnarok Online servers. [...]

T3 30: Top 10 Albums of 2003

Sean — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:32:46 +0000

What did 2003 sound like to you? The early 2000s were a time of change, when digital distribution via iTunes and other, lesser services came into its own. When you could actually watch music videos on VH1 and MTV (actually MTV2, it wasn’t that long ago). When a little band called The Darkness came out [...]

Vote or Die

John — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 05:35:42 +0000

The Campaign On July 15th, 2012, Sean, my brother Paul, and myself waited alongside thousands of people outside Seattle’s Pike Place Market to see Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. It was advertised as a promotional event where Ferrell and Galifianakis would serve coffee to fans. Waiting for hours in the scorching hot sun, Ferrell and [...]

T3 29: Top 10 PlayStation Games

Colin — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 22:05:05 +0000

With Sean taking full advantage of his Mildly Pleased company vacation days, it was up to Colin, John and myself to get things done. With John taking over the hosting duties, his younger brother Paul fills out the foursome with his vast knowledge of Playstation expertise. Since posting duties were thrust upon Colin and he [...]

T3 28: Top 10 Nintendo 64 Games

Sean — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 10:59:00 +0000

Somehow, our longest podcast yet is a discussion about the Nintendo 64, a discussion, mind you, that is a rehash of a post I did four years ago. While the N64 could maybe have disappeared into history as one of Nintendo’s weaker systems, it existed at exactly the right time for it to matter a [...]

Robo Jockeys 2

Sean — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:16:26 +0000

Here it is. The album you’ve been dreaming of since the day you were born and will be thinking of until the day you die. I’ve been putting literally hours into this every year since Robo Jockeys came out in 2009. Now that I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t like listening to it [...]

T3 27: Top 10 One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s

Sean — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 07:00:05 +0000

The 1980s. What a weird time to be alive. Neon colors, video game arcades, casette tapes, sure does seem like a long time ago. A little while ago, we talked about our favorite one-hit wonders of the 1990s, and realized at the end that we wished we had done the Eighties instead. So, now that [...]

Top 10 Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series

John — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 06:17:28 +0000

In honor of the summer blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises I’ve put together a list of my favorite episodes of Batman: The Animated series. Produced from 1992-1994 and then again as “The New Batman Adventures” in 1997, Batman: The Animated Series was a landmark in TV animation. As good as any adult drama of the [...]

T3 26: Top 10 Arnold Schwarzeneggar Movies

Sean — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:00:53 +0000

Fates be damned! The recording of this podcast was erased from all the this reality, and while we could all go listen to it in another dimension, I don’t think getting killed by a character from DragonBall Z is something any of us are trying to do (remember how instead of saying “I’m going to [...]

T3: The Dark Knight Rises Special

Sean — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:11:40 +0000

Not satisfied with a lengthy review, hastily written at some ungodly hour? Neither were we! So we worked up something real special for you: our first official podcast review. No, this isn’t a snarky “Top 10 Plot Holes” episode, like our usual show; this is a real, unscripted discussion of the film. And we had [...]

Sour Apple

Colin — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:04:28 +0000

Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw & Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do Yup, that’s one ridiculously long album title, and yet it’s probably the least remarkable thing about Fiona Apple’s latest album, so let’s move on. This is another album that [...]

Like They Do In The Future

Colin — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 02:49:41 +0000

El-P – Cancer For Cure If you’ve paid any attention at all to the kinds of new music we usually review on this website, you can tell that we’re not terribly well-versed in modern hip-hop. I personally can’t really say that I’m opposed to what’s going on in hip-hop nowadays, it’s just usually not the [...]

A Fire Will Rise

Sean — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:04:03 +0000

The Dark Knight Rises The Dark Knight Rises tells you everything you need to know about it with its title. This isn’t The Dark Knight, a film that succeeded in evolving super hero movies into credible, award-worthy cinema. This is a movie that aspires simply to live up to the expectations that the followup to [...]

T3 25: Top 10 Batman Villains

Sean — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 07:00:45 +0000

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na podcast! Here’s the podcast you deserve, and the podcast you need right now. It’s a Dark Knight Rises special, with our spotlight focused not on the caped crusader himself, but his rogues gallery. And, while we’re confident you can guess [...]

C.A.T: Pacific Ocean Blue

John — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:48:01 +0000

Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue (1977) I’ve been on a real Beach Boys kick lately. Maybe it’s because I recently saw them live, maybe it’s the warm summer weather, or maybe it’s some good vibrations. This week celebrates what many music critics consider to be a “lost classic”. Making little impact upon it’s release, [...]

Maximum Pain

Sean — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:00:59 +0000

Max Payne 3 Max Payne has come a long way. His first game portrayed him as an ever-smirking gun ballerino, filling the world with bullets as he lived through a sad tale of comic book noire, unraveling the mystery that left his wife and daughter dead. His second game strongly resembled the first, with light [...]

Sugar Rose

Sean — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Sigur Rós – Valtari Sigur Rós probably peaked with Takk… Ágætis Byrjun might be their magnum opus, ( ) was pretty amazing, but it was Takk… that saw the Icelandic band at the height of their powers, as they began turning their manic pixie dream music into something that resembled pop. Since then, they’ve maybe [...]

The Devil’s Radio

John — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:41:26 +0000

The Beach Boys – That’s Why God Made the Radio I’ve been sitting on this album for far too long. That’s Why God Made the Radio is the 29th album by the legendary Beach Boys. Reunited with master songsmith/producer Brian Wilson, That’s Why God Made the Radio was my most anticipated album of the year. [...]

50 Things I Learned from Seeing The Beach Boys Live.

John — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 09:23:05 +0000

Yesterday I had the fine pleasure of seeing the legendary Beach Boys live at the Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, WA. Though I’m always hesitant to see a “Nostalgia Act” it’s hard to resist when it’s one of the greatest American bands of all time. So in honor of the show and the band’s 50th [...]

The Amazing Aging Process

Sean — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 07:00:36 +0000

The Amazing Spider-Man With the The Avengers already assembled and The Dark Knight‘s rise looming, I wouldn’t blame anyone for deciding to overlook the filler content that is this year’s Spider-Man movie. After all, the first Spider-Man came out 10 years ago, alongside Men in Black II, and it’s been just five years since Spider-Man [...]

Stagnant Youth

Sean — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 01:55:41 +0000

Metric – Synthetica Fantasies, Metric’s 2009 album, was considered a breakthrough for the group. And it deserves that reputation, as it made the band into one I deemed worthy of my continuing affection, or at least interest. Now it’s a few years later and the band has turned into the kind of group that does [...]

T3 24: Top 10 TV Bosses

Sean — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 08:20:05 +0000

Who the boss? You the boss. You, our dutiful listener who comes by every week to listen to this show we do for you. And, it is for your benefit, not our own entertainment, that we did this week’s episode. Our focus? TV bosses, the leaders of men and women that we’ve come to love [...]

YouTube Account

Sean — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 00:03:58 +0000

We have a YouTube account now. Maybe something worth subscribing to, as I will be posting video excerpts from the podcast there in the immediate future, and we might make some video-exclusive content in the future. Anyway, the URL is youtube.com/mildlypleased, not a hard one to remember. Our first video so far is after the [...]

The Best of T3

Sean — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 03:04:33 +0000

Hey America, we love ya. We love you so much, we couldn’t make ourselves record a whole new episode so close to your birthday. So, like the eagle soars, we put together a clip show for you. If you’re a faithful listener, who not only has listened to every episode, but loves the USA unconditionally, [...]

(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

John — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:44:48 +0000

Ted It didn’t occur to me until recently that I’m probably the biggest Seth MacFarlane fan I know. I still watch Family Guy (despite it’s declining quality), very much enjoy American Dad, and have probably seen more episodes of The Cleveland Show than what’s considered socially acceptable. So naturally I felt I had a duty [...]

Anime Ja Nai

Sean — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 05:32:20 +0000

Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. The most popular arcade game in Japan is a fighting game, as you might guess. What you maybe wouldn’t guess is that it’s a game developed by Namco Bandai. What you probably wouldn’t guess is that it’s a Gundam game, one in a long series that hasn’t made it outside [...]

T3 23: Top Stuff of 2012 So Far

Sean — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 07:00:14 +0000

This week, we do things a little different. Instead of making a new list, perhaps inspired by the new film Ted or the return of Louie to FX, we look back at the things that inspired all our lists so far. You see, we’re just about halfway through 2012, believe it or not, and now [...]

In Bloom

Sean — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 09:18:28 +0000

Beach House – Bloom If there’s a bad song by Beach House, I haven’t heard it. It’s possible, I still haven’t gone back and listened to their first two albums, despite Teen Dream being one of my favorite records in 2010. Bloom, their newest release, has the same vibe that made me really like them [...]

T3 22: Top 10 Pixar Characters

Sean — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:27:17 +0000

Our friends at Pixar are putting out their latest feature, Brave which means we can talk about something vaguely related. Personally, I thought it would be pretty cool to talk about Disney princesses, since this is their first princess movie. But I guess we’re a bit to bro-y for that? Like, what’s the big deal? [...]

Top 10 Songs The Beatles Gave Away

John — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:30:31 +0000

Happy 70th birthday Paul McCartney! In honor of Sir Paul’s special day here’s a post about his prolific songwriting career alongside Beatle John Lennon. You may know the hits but what about the songs Lennon and McCartney gave away? You have to remember that there was a time where that Lennon-McCartney signature meant instant hit [...]

You Can Call Me Alien

John — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:51:17 +0000

Prometheus Prometheus is director Ridley Scott’s long-awaited return to the genre that made him famous. Tying into the beloved Alien franchise, it’s a breath of fresh air to get a film that for the most part is a new and original sci-fi story. It’s nice as well to see Scott make a film that doesn’t [...]

Americana Dream

John — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 23:31:33 +0000

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Americana Neil Young is often my go to example of an older artist that hasn’t gone soft. Where so many other musicians lose their edge once they receive their AARP membership, Neil is just as rough around the edges as ever. Neil never hides behind studio tricks to improve [...]

T3 21: Top 10 Albums of 1985-1989

Sean — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:00:29 +0000

Mad Men‘s season ended, so it’s obviously time for another albums list. This week, we take the Rock of Ages approach and turn our steely gaze toward the late Eighties. Now, the music in that movie might not be what we would have chosen, so don’t be surprised if our list doesn’t serve as an [...]

Just Like Heaven

Colin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 04:52:05 +0000

The Walkmen – Heaven In rock n’ roll, growing old gracefully is never an easy thing. It especially can’t be easy for a band like The Walkmen, who’s early music owes much of it’s charm to the way it embodied the confusion and frustration of being a young man. So it’s been a bit surprising [...]

Diablo Doesn’t Blow

Sean — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 07:00:32 +0000

Diablo III Dungeon crawlers are a weirdly pure RPG experience. Something about that constant stream of new loot is frighteningly compelling, so much so that as a player it’s easy to forget about everything else. The story, graphics and gameplay can all fade away as the need to get a new sword, or a new [...]

I Want Your Lex

John — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 02:52:14 +0000

The Hives – Lex Hives It’s been five years since The Hives released an album. Five years! That’s a long time to leave a fan hanging. Their last release was 2007′s The Black and White Album a exciting and ambitious release. So it would be assumed that Lex Hives took so long because they were [...]

T3 20: Top 10 Sci-Fi Moves

Sean — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:06:11 +0000

Like a vengeful genetically enhanced man whose been marooned on a harsh planet for years, we’re back from break and ready to get some lists made. First on the docket: sci-fi movies. It’s a pretty cool time for sci-fi movies right now, what with them coming out and making money. Except for John Carter, but [...]

Walking With Beasts

Colin — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 05:16:02 +0000

Beasts Of The Southern Wild As each spring finally turns to summer, the Seattle International Film Festival comes to the Seattle area and fills our local theaters with the latest independent releases as well as plenty more artier films from around the world. And each time the festival is upon us, I always say to [...]

Retrospecticus: The Hives

John — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 06:23:00 +0000

The Hives are bonafide rockers. You just don’t see that many bands today that carry the same kind of swagger and showmanship that The Hives do. The Hives are a fun band because they have fun. While other bands brood over making work that’s artistically the meaningful, The Hives live to entertain and appear to [...]

Best Coast Scenario

Colin — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:26:27 +0000

Best Coast – The Only Place With an irresistably sugary sound that relied heavily on pop hooks and teenage infatuation, Best Coast’s 2010 debut Crazy For You was an album that I had a pretty easy time falling for. That said, Crazy For You was an album that was a little short on depth, and [...]

Asurazu Rasu

Sean — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:00:08 +0000

Asura’s Wrath We’re living in the era of video on demand. Marathoning a TV series on Netflix is a common enough experience that it doesn’t turn heads when someone admits to watching all of Breaking Bad in a weekend. Whether the networks like it or not, the way audiences take in serialized entertainment is changing; [...]

Here, There and Everywhere

John — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:10:13 +0000

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Here Bursting onto the scene in 2009 with the radio friendly Up from Below, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have returned with something perhaps less approachable but far more engrossing. Here is the rootsy sophomore effort by folk-prophet Alex Ebert and his tuneful hippie collective. Unlike it’s [...]

Back in Black

John — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:41:15 +0000

Men in Black III Time to party like it’s 1969! Though watching Men in Black III was a little more like traveling back to 1997. That was the year the first MIB movie was released and in fifteen years little has changed. So you can take that aspect as good or bad. I sit somewhere [...]

Tuff Z’nuff

John — Thu, 31 May 2012 22:26:37 +0000

King Tuff – King Tuff You know you’re indie when you don’t even have a Wikipedia page. This very fact has made it difficult for me to follow stoner-rock artist King Tuff. I found my way to the tunes of Tuff aka Kyle Thomas by means of his side project Happy Birthday. Like Happy Birthday, [...]

Retrospecticus: The Walkmen

Colin — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:17:11 +0000

You may not have noticed, but The Walkmen have very quietly become one of the more consistently great bands of the last decade or so. And it’s because of this consistency that I’ve been pretty excited about the release of their latest album, Heaven. So now let’s take a look back at the career so far [...]

T3 19: Top 10 Future Technology

Sean — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:45:20 +0000

Welcome to the world of tomorrow. A place where cats and dogs not only live together, they’re happy to do so. Where dead singers can be brought back as holograms and that apparently doesn’t offend anyone. Where people carry magical devices that contain all the world’s information, yet spend most of their time simulating combat [...]

Lost in America, the birthplace of AIDS

John — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:54:45 +0000

The Dictator The Dictator is the latest from fearless comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Another raunchy romp from Cohen The Dictator unfortunately lacks the spark that made his past films Borat and Bruno so damn funny. The Dictator is Cohen’s first starring non-mockumentary. He is re-teamed with director Larry Charles and joined by a cast including; [...]

C.A.T: Bee Gees 1st

John — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:57:25 +0000

Bee Gees – Bee Gees’ 1st (1967) It would of been easy to go with the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever in remembrance of Bee Gee Robin Gibb. Instead I decided to go with the Bee Gees more affectionate and sweeping album Bee Gees’ 1st (though technically their third release). I often get the feeling [...]

T3 18: Top 10 Children’s Playthings That Should Never Be Movies

Sean — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:00:23 +0000

So, Battleship. Who knew that for all these years what we were actually play was a Michael Bay-esque battle for the planet between brave sailors and devious robot aliens? Nobody, because that’s not how the game works. And yet, here we are. This week, we tackle the issue of dumb adaptations with a bunch of [...]

To Legit to Syndiquit

Sean — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:26:41 +0000

Syndicate Syndicate is the latest in a long line of quality first person shooters that will be forgotten for not being a big enough deal like Rage and Bulletstorm before. Which is a shame, because Syndicate has quit the pedigree: it is both the revival of a classic, somewhat forgotten franchise and one of the [...]

Shadow Man

John — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:27:26 +0000

Dark Shadows At this point I’ve seen every Tim Burton movie. Since Mar’s Attacks in 1996 I’ve also seen them all in theaters. So more than anything I went to Dark Shadows to keep the streak alive. I enjoyed Burton’s gothic, fairy tale-like, movie for many years, but I’ll admit he’s not as cutting edge [...]

T3 17: Top 10 Actors Who Should Quit

Sean — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:07:51 +0000

This week, we go mean. Real mean. We go right for the jugular. If you’re on this list, we’re worried about you. Real worried. We think your talent’s run out. Maybe it never existed. Maybe you just keep picking terrible projects. The point is, we think your best career move is putting an end to [...]

Avengers, Assembled

Sean — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:03:50 +0000

The Avengers This is what we’ve all been waiting for. The bulk of super hero movies from the past four years, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, all lead to this. One movie, six super heroes. It’s exciting to think about, and even more exciting to [...]

T3 16: Top 10 Super Heroes

Sean — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:38:47 +0000

Hark! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Top Ten Thursdays! In honor of the imminent release of The Avengers, we narrowed down our favorite super heroes for your enjoyment. It’s pretty selfless, kind of like Superman. It’s kind of crazy, kind of like Batman. It’s a great responsibility, like Spider-Man. [...]

R.I.P. Adam “MCA” Yauch

Colin — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:10:26 +0000

I know we don’t do RIP’s as frequently as we used to, just because well, a lot of celebrities die all the time. But I figure it’d be a shame for me to not at least pay some kind of tribute to a guy who was at the heart of a band that I like [...]

Home is Where You Make It

John — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:10:25 +0000

Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again I’ve noticed a handful of artists these days brandishing some very nostalgic R&B sounds. Raphael Saadiq and Fitz and the Tantrums come to mind as two acts that not not only play old school soul, but sound like old school soul. British singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka is the latest artist to [...]

Something Ugly

Colin — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:46:23 +0000

Screaming Females – Ugly With recording technology and the internet making it so easy for bands to get their music out there, it seems weird that I don’t hear about more bands refining their sound in this way before gaining more attention. Anyways, Screaming Females have more or less been doing this for a while [...]

T3 15: Top 10 Actor-Director Duos

Sean — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:13:53 +0000

History provides a deep well of leaders and followers working together, like… Caesar and Brutus. That’s true in the world of cinema as well, with great teams of actors and directors. What’s that? Filmmaking is a collaboration? Don’t tell that to John Ratzenberger, that poor guy’s been the indentured slave of Pixar for years. Let’s [...]

Blundercats Ho!

John — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:47:57 +0000

Jack White – Blunderbuss Being a Jack White Fan is exhausting. If he’s not recording with The Raconteurs or The Dead Weather, he’s off collaborating with artists as diverse as Danger Mouse and even The Insane Clown Posse. I’ve grown weary of following all his side projects, but this is a solo album. Blunderbuss is [...]

C.A.T: The Band

John — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:59:45 +0000

The Band – The Band (1969) I almost did this album for a Classic Album Tuesday a few weeks ago, so it was quite a shock when drummer/vocalist Levon Helm’s ailing health came up in the news not long after. Rock has lost a powerful figure with Levon’s passing, but at least I can come [...]

To Morrow

Sean — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:04:46 +0000

The Shins – Port of Morrow It took listening to the a new Shins albums a few times to remind myself that I actually really like this band. I was even a fan of the Broken Bells, even though it seems most people consider that a waste of James Mercer’s time. After reading about how [...]

Lock and Roll

John — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:40:27 +0000

Dr. John – Locked Down Why would I have any interest in the latest album from an artist I was never that big a fan of in the first place? I like some of Dr. John’s hits, I have the In the Right Place album and I was content with that. Then somehow I heard [...]

Your Body is a Wasteland

John — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:50:54 +0000

M. Ward – A Wasteland Companion I don’t know why it took me as long as it did to check out an album by singer-songwriter M.Ward. I enjoy both his work with Zooey Deschanel in the band She & Him and his work in the supergroup Monsters of Folk. A Wasteland Companion is M. Ward’s [...]

T3 14: Top 10 Rain Songs

Sean — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:57:33 +0000

What’s that pitter-patter on the roof? Is it… Could it be… Top Ten Thursdays? It is! Like a proverbial downpour the discussion this week turned to a topic that is a big part of any Seattle native’s lifestyle: the rain. Specifically, songs about the rain. So warm up some moon waffles, cuddle up in bed [...]

Top 10 Stoner Characters

John — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:28:28 +0000

In honor of 4/20 I thought it might be far out to do a post on my favorite stoner characters. Seems kind of strange considering I’ve never done any drugs myself but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the humor that can come from drug culture. So here are my favorite TV and movie pushers [...]

The Vault: Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray

John — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:17:05 +0000

Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray (2003) Welcome to another edition of the vault, a segment devoted to nostalgia. This week I’ll be reviewing a PS2 game that I’d pined to play for years until I finally buckled down and bought it on Amazon. The game is Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray by Activision, the same [...]

There’s Something in the Woods

John — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 02:49:56 +0000

The Cabin in the Woods Leave it to Joss Whedon to completely turn a genre on it’s head in the already acclaimed The Cabin in the Woods. Not since Scream has the horror genre been this deeply analyzed or even criticized in such a clever way, but The Cabin in the Woods takes that model [...]

T3 13: Top 10 Ensemble Movies

Sean — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:24:50 +0000

The holy weekend’s over, it’s Thursday and the gang’s all here! Our big cast of heroes got together to shoot the poop and let it all hang out. The topic of discussion? Ensemble movies. Those films that don’t rely on just one star, instead focusing on a whole group of characters. It sounded like a [...]

Men Men Men Men Manly Men Men Men

Colin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:47:46 +0000

The Men – Open Your Heart It’s hard to find a lot about a band that doesn’t have a wikipedia, but from what I know, The Men are a Brooklyn band who released their debut album in late 2011 and are already back with an album that finds them expanding on their punk-influenced aesthetic in [...]

Dial M for Mr.

Colin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:04:38 +0000

Lambchop – Mr. M So it’s been a while since I’ve posted on the blog, and that can basically be attributed to the heavy load of school and work that I’ve been burdened with the last few weeks. But alas, this week marks my spring break, so I’ll try and unload a couple album reviews [...]

T3 12: Top 10 Reasons to Be Excited About the 2012 Mariners Season

Sean — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:54:39 +0000

We couldn’t pass up an opportunity to record an episode in a real radio station, and thusly, we focused on a real radio topic: sports. As a band of Mariner fans, how could we resist talking about of favorite Seattle Mariners, especially after they were honored by opening the season in Japan? So, sure, the [...]

That Old Black Magic

John — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:34:55 +0000

Magic City Magic City is the latest Period Drama series from the Starz Network. Premiering last Friday, Starz has made the first three episodes available on their site, unedited and for free. I’ve now watched all three episodes and here are some of my initial thoughts. Set in Miami, Florida in the late 1950s, Magic [...]

Get to Mars

Sean — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:08:52 +0000

John Carter The problem with adapting the John Carter of Mars series of books is that everyone’s already stolen all of the best scenes. As prolific as the original works were, their influence so obviously and completely permeates the history of sci fi cinema that seeing it in its original context feels weird. The sith [...]

Finish the Fight

Sean — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 02:09:03 +0000

Mass Effect 3 Commander Shepard certainly was aptly named. Over the course of the Mass Effect series, the Commander has continually grown her flock, enlisting the support of politicians, soldiers and organizations. Mass Effect 3 poses her biggest challenge, a threat so big she can no longer win with a small team. Instead, she must [...]

T3 11: Top 10 Albums of 1967

Sean — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:15:05 +0000

In honor of the beloved Mad Men, this week is all about 1967. Because that’s when the current season of the show is set. Probably. That show’s not really that explicit about anything. But what is explicit is this podcast, because the groovy conversation is all about the most awesome albums of 1967. It’s a [...]

To Kill a Mockingjay

Sean — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:02:38 +0000

The Hunger Games Human sacrifice was a big part of a lot of cultures for a long time. Sure, now it sounds rather gaouche, but that’s because we live in slightly more sophisticated times. The Hunger Games is set in the future and it sounds like we can at least look forward to human sacrifice [...]

The Government Totally Sucks

John — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:58:15 +0000

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball The Boss has been in charge for almost forty years but he’s still got just as much piss and vinegar as ever. Springsteen has shown that he’s just as rough around the edges as ever on his latest album Wrecking Ball. Gone is the more optimistic vision of hope for [...]

It’s Very Complicated

Sean — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:50:03 +0000

SSX When it was announced, the new SSX game was called Deadly Descents. It looked to be a departure from what the extreme sports series was known for, and I was worried about the direction it was going in. In the many months between that first trailer and the game’s release, the retitled SSX reshaped [...]

T3 10: Top 10 Movie Scores

Sean — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 04:52:51 +0000

Top Ten Fridays Saturdays? That simply will not do. But tardiness is better than absence, so delayed but not deterred, T3 is here for you. This week the topic of choice is original movies scores, inspired by… uh… The Muppets DVD release? Now, surely you were looking for some sort of Hunger Games-related murder adventure [...]

New Kids on the Block

John — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:38:47 +0000

21 Jump Street The first big comedy of the year has hit and despite sounding like a lazy rehash of an old TV show it’s anything but. 21Jump Street, adapted from the 80s cop drama of the same name is now a raunchy comedy film starring Channing Tatum and a not-quite-fat but not-quite-thin Jonah Hill. [...]

T3 09: Top 10 High School Movies

Sean — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:33:37 +0000

The clocks have sprung forward, and that means school’s out for listing. As the gang gets excited for the highly anticipated 21 Jump Street, they look back at all the great high school movies they’ve seen, as well as a few they haven’t. They have a lot of fun, and if you’re not careful, you [...]

T3 08: Top 10 SuperNES Games

Sean — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:50:11 +0000

After dedicating so much brainpower to reliving the Nineties, it would seem like a waste to move forward in time without at least talking about another cultural icon: the Super Nintendo. Sure, it might not have the infamy or name recognition of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, but it’s hard not to respect the amazing [...]

T3 07: Top 10 One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s

Sean — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:45:27 +0000

Sorry for the delay, some technical difficulties arose, had to export it overnight. Enjoy! There are two kinds of people: those that hate 1990s music and those that love it. Everyone at T3 falls in the latter. As younglings, the music of Weird Al and The La’s seemed wonderful and exciting to the guys. Now that they’re [...]

Old Dog, Newish Tricks

Sean — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:59:05 +0000

Dr. Dog – Be the Void Here’s an album I didn’t think I’d be the one reviewing. Dr. Dog is a band I’ve always liked, but more on an individual song basis than entire albums. For example, “My Old Ways” is a tune I love to listen to, but right now I probably couldn’t tell [...]

A Silent Victory!

John — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:58:51 +0000

Seems like I usually write some kind of afterthought about Oscar night, so here we go again. Oscar vet Billy Crystal was back at the helm and even though he was a little cheesy with no shortage on movie puns, it was still a nice change of pace from last year. Anne Hathaway and James [...]

Sour Power

John — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 07:53:45 +0000

Band of Skulls – Sweet Sour I’m not sure when or where I first heard about Band of Skulls but it’s hard to forget a name like “Band of Skulls.” With a name that sounds perfectly suited for a Norwegian death metal band, you might be surprised to find that Band of SKulls is actually [...]

I Choose You!

John — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 07:18:58 +0000

Ah the Oscars, my favorite TV event of the whole year. So many have criticized this prestigious ceremony over the years for many different reasons. Some say it focuses more on the best marketed movies than the actual best movies, and there could be some truth to that. Though for the most part I believe [...]

“I’d Love to Lick a Lemon Lollipop in Lillehammer”

John — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:29:45 +0000

Lilyhammer Looks like we’ve entered a new age as movie delivery/streaming service Netflix has delivered it’s first original series in Lilyhammer. The series stars who else but renowned E-Street Band guitarist/Sopranos actor Steven Van Zandt as the endlessly entertaining wise guy Frankie “The Fixer” Tagliano. After the death of a former Mafia associate, Frankie Tagliano [...]

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

John — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:45:07 +0000

Awake Awake is NBC’s latest cop drama series from Kyle Killen. From the creator of the ill-fated but well received FOX drama Lonestar, Killen’s latest show premieres on March 1st but the pilot is currently available to watch for free on Hulu. I don’t normally watch basic cable dramas but something about the premise to [...]

T3 06: Top 10 TV Show Title Sequences

Sean — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:01:48 +0000

Finally leaving the domain of movies for a change, the guys take on perhaps their most heated topic yet: TV show title sequences. Yes, those memorable segments at the beginning of shows that you probably forgot about ever since you got your DVR. It’s a battle of visuals and music; the catchy versus the memorable, [...]

There’s Gonna Be a Reckoning

Sean — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:07:28 +0000

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning As the first title from Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demands comparison. At first look, Reckoning seems very Fable-like, with its quasi-cartoony art style, whimsical score and ambition to combine quality combat with an RPG world. Knowing that Elder Scrolls veteran Ken Rolston designed the game makes all [...]

C.A.T: The Damned

John — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:51:58 +0000

The Damned – Damned Damned Damned (1977) It can be difficult to find relevant albums week by week, so when I found out this album recently celebrated it’s 35th anniversary I jumped at the opportunity to review it. The Damned were a London based punk group most prominent in the punk boom of the late [...]

T3 05: Top 10 Romantic Comedies

Sean — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:31:40 +0000

22 movies enter but only 10 leave in this epic battle of true romance! Our unusually epic Valentine’s week continues with a podcast that’s just simply full of love. Sean, John and Colin get together and talk about a genre of film that couldn’t be closer to their hearts: the romantic comedy. And while I’d [...]

C.A.T.: Guitar Romantic

Colin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:24:25 +0000

The Exploding Hearts – Guitar Romantic (2003) For a while I’ve been wanting to revive Classic Album Tuesdays just because, well I haven’t posted anything in literally weeks. I’m ready to give up on the year-by-year thing we were doing, and since it’s Valentine’s Day I figured I should pick something “romantic” (heh heh). I [...]

Who is Betty Wang?

Sean — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:30:14 +0000

Hospitality – Hospitality The music industry has come a long way. Since Napster revolutionized the digital distribution of music, we’ve seen a paradigm shift not just in the way music is sold, but the way we listen to it. It seems were passed the days of wanton lawsuits against unwitting criminals, and it seems that [...]

T3 04: Top 10 Disappointing Aspects of The Phantom Menace

Sean — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:56:08 +0000

In honor of the 3D re-release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, we take a look at what exactly made this movie such a disappointment. Can you remember a world before this came out? When the biggest problem with the Star Wars franchise was ewoks? We had no idea how good we had [...]

Baby’s in Black

John — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:13:25 +0000

The Woman in Black It is not often that a mainstream horror movie is released to even remotely positive reviews so when it does happen I’m all over it. Aside from that The Woman in Black appealed to me for two reasons: one, it’s a gothic period piece and two, it was produced by Hammer [...]

Battle in Seattle

John — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:02:34 +0000

Chronicle The first thing I noticed about Chronicle was that great poster. People flying around the Seattle skyline? Sweet. Then I found out it was a shaky cam movie about superpowers and I was even more intrigued. I know a lot of people are getting tired of these “found footage” type movies but I still [...]

T3 03: Top 10 Anticipated Movies of 2012

Sean — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:36:40 +0000

This Thursday, the gang came up with a topic so partisan, so biased, that they decided to present their lists independently. That’s right, it’s their most anticipated movies of the year. How does one rank anticipation? Who knows. But one thing’s for sure, the guy’s definitely did talk about films they want to see. Well, [...]

Extremely Annoying and Incredibly Insensitive

John — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:14:54 +0000

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Maybe this film isn’t as bad as my title suggests but I couldn’t resist making fun of it when there are so many possibilities. So why did someone like me who so closely monitors reviews see this film? Because I make it my mission every year to see every film [...]

T3 02: Top 10 Movies of 2011

Sean — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:59:19 +0000

Did you read John, Colin and Sean’s top 10 movie lists last week? If you liked those, you’re going to love this podcast. This week, those guys talk about their favorite movies of 2011, narrowing down all their personal preferences to a single list. What will make the cut? Who will feel the most betrayed? [...]

Sean’s Top 10 Movies of 2011

Sean — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:40:40 +0000

Something changed me this afternoon. After feeling like I hadn’t seen “enough” movies from last year, like I wasn’t worthy of an opinion on the medium for 2011, I reread Colin’s top 10. And, having gotten past the weirdness that is Colin’s choice not to write about movies he likes, something stood out to me. [...]

Colin’s Top 10 Movies of 2011

Colin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:54:45 +0000

For me 2011 seemed like a pretty solid year for movies, not spectacular or anything, but solid. It does seem like the harder-to-see indie films continue to be generally more impressive while the big budget films appear to be getting dumber and lazier. Yet at the same time, I found many of the more heralded [...]

T3 01: Top 10 TV Shows of 2011

Sean — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:44:36 +0000

A new year means changes, especially at the ever-changing Mildly Pleased. We’ve thrown our hats into the podcasting ring once again, this time with the goal of turning our former T3 feature into a weekly show. So, come back every week for Top 10 Thursdays, where we’ll try our best to formulate a top 10 [...]

John’s Top 10 Movies of 2011

John — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:03:38 +0000

Every year I try to see all the movies I can and I’m still never ready for this list. I think I’ve done a good job seeing most of the year’s critically lauded films. My only regrets for 2011 is that I didn’t see Shame, Take Shelter, or the last Harry Potter, though that last [...]

Building a Better World

Sean — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Bastion Let me tell you about a kid. Actually, no, let the narrator tell you about him. You see, what we’ve got here is a game that turned narration into a gameplay mechanic. It’s crazy and risky and it totally helps Bastion stand out as not only a great story, but one of last year’s [...]

Dragon! Dragon! Rock the Dragon!

John — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:31:31 +0000

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Even though it came out well over a month ago I felt Mildly Pleased should have some kind acknowledgment of the US adaptation of Stigg Larsson’s bestseller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Already adapted for Swedish audiences along with the other two installments of Larsson’s “The Millennium Trilogy” [...]

A Ghost of a Chance

Sean — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:01:20 +0000

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol After four films and four directors, I’m getting pretty optimistic about the Mission: Impossible franchise, although still not enough to go back to the original show. But, if you were to compare Ghost Protocol to other film fourths this year, like X-Men: First Class and Pirates of the Caribbean: on [...]

Strap It On

Sean — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:09:34 +0000

Saints Row: The Third It’s hard to do stupid smart. I know that, because Saints Row 2 did stupid stupidly. Saints Row: The Third does stupid in a way that would make idiot savants jealous. Yes, this is not my strongest opening to a review, but don’t let that deter you from engaging in the [...]

Sean’s Top 10 Albums of 2011

Sean — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:29:19 +0000

I wasn’t as engaged with music in 2011 as I have been the past few years. Without all the busywork of being a student, the time I spent listening to music declined. So I was a bit surprised to see that I had over 50 albums to choose from for my list. More surprising is [...]

Colin’s Top 10 Albums of 2011

Colin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:39:49 +0000

I feel like I did a lot of complaining on this blog about how there were so few exciting music releases this year, but in the end I’m pretty satisfied with 2011′s music as a whole. I seem to be listening to more and more new music each year, and this year I ended up [...]

John’s Top 10 Albums of 2011

John — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:45:59 +0000

Musically speaking 2011 was a peculiar year for myself as most of the albums I liked were released in such a short period of time. I was basically good up until June and then uninterested in most of everything I heard afterwards. As usual I delved into the pool of new artists proclaimed good by [...]

Impressions of the Old Republic

Sean — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 02:28:19 +0000

It’s kind of silly to review an MMO, but I have put quite some time into Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I’d like to talk about it. For the record, I played in the two big beta weekends and have a level 35 bounty hunter on the live servers, which means I’ve completed the [...]

Wyld Stallyn

John — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:41:00 +0000

War Horse There is little that Steven Spielberg hasn’t done in his long, varied career. He’s made movies about everything from aliens, to dinosaurs, to his acclaimed projects centered around WWII, but it wasn’t until now that he’s finally made a film about “The Great War”. Adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s novel, which in [...]

Sounds Of Silence

Colin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:01:21 +0000

The Artist On the other end of the spectrum from Shame is the wonderfully light-hearted ode to good old-fashioned Hollywood filmmaking that is The Artist. It was only about a month ago that Martin Scorsese released his own ode to the early days of cinema with Hugo, while French director Michel Hazanavicius takes his love for [...]

Sexual Tyrannosaurus

Colin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:55:40 +0000

Shame I guess I’ll take this time to finally get a couple of reviews out of the way, but I’ll probably be brief since I’m still feeling the affects of post-Christmas laziness. Shame is a film that I wasn’t really intending to see since its reviews were a bit mixed, and the film’s tone and [...]

The Sky’s the Limit

Sean — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:40:43 +0000

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda is among the most ambitious developers in gaming. Time and time again, they try to deliver on the impossible: An open world, brimming with life and opportunity, that a player can interact with however they want. It’s been a few years since they brought their brand of entertainment to [...]

Mild Greetings

John — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:00:30 +0000

Merry such and such from all of us here at Mildly Pleased! Here’s hoping to a frank and productive holiday!

Glacial Romance

Sean — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:15:34 +0000

Young Adult Director Jason Reitman is kind of, sort of becoming an auteur. Through four films now, he’s told unique, character-focused stories full of wit and darkness. Young Adult‘s Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) follows in the footsteps of Nick Naylor, Juno and Ryan Bingham as a character deeply set in her ways, forced to confront [...]

C.A.T: The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album

John — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:52:46 +0000

The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (1964) Ah December, what better time to chronicle something festive? The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album is hardly a classic, but there are only so many good rock albums about Christmas. Colin already did the best rock and roll Christmas album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil [...]

The Gold, the Bad and the Ugly

John — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:53:56 +0000

It’s hard to put forth the time or effort on the blog when we have the holidays at hand but here’s something I always enjoy talking about and hey it’s relevant. So the Golden Globe nominations came out recently which means we are just one step closer to getting a good idea of who will [...]

Assassin’s Creed Reservations

Sean — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:39:48 +0000

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Assassin’s Creed II ended on a bizarre, disarming note that I felt was brave for a modern, big budget game. Our hero, Desmond, is using a machine called the Animus to relive the life of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. After hours of building Ezio up, suffering his losses and enjoying [...]

T3: Winter Songs

Colin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:07:32 +0000

You could basically say we’ve begun winter by now, despite the fact that the winter solstice isn’t for another two weeks. Regardless, it’s cold, it’s dark, and if it weren’t for Christmas, it’d be altogether depressing, and much of the music I listen to around this time of year reflects that. So as a counterpoint [...]

Lowrider

John — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:48:53 +0000

The Black Keys – El Camino The new Black Keys’ album is out and honestly I am not as excited about it as I thought I would be. Maybe it has something do with the fact that I’m a little burned out on The Black Keys or maybe it just doesn’t resonate with me as [...]

Celluloid Dreams

Colin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:11:56 +0000

Hugo As a longtime fan of Martin Scorsese’s films, I really couldn’t help but feel anything other than utter bewilderment after seeing the first trailer for his latest film, Hugo. I was just thinking, “Ok. So has Martin Scorsese gone off the deep end? This just looks like some silly little 3D kids movie devoid [...]

Retrospecticus: The Black Keys

John — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:01:54 +0000

It’s an exciting time to be a Black Keys fan as this Akron, Ohio duo is as hot as ever. Coming off their most successful and arguably best album The Black Keys have hit the mainstream, but it didn’t happen overnight. Dan Auerbach (guitar/vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) have together made seven albums under the [...]

The Vault: Manhunt

John — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:32:46 +0000

Manhunt (2003) Time to get back into writing posts, been a little busy with finals but I’m ready now and I got a few things up my sleeve, i’ll start with this one I wrote awhile back. I always liked the idea of a segment reviewing older games good or bad that have at some [...]

Goodbye Happiness

Sean — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:32:55 +0000

Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness I was a little hesitant to listen to Hello Sadness, the fourth/third album from Los Campesinos. I am someone who really enjoyed Hold on Now, Youngster… and We are Beautiful, We are Doomed, but found Romance is Boring to be disappointing. If this album was another disappointment, it would be [...]

Descent Into Sadness

Colin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:36:42 +0000

The Descendants I can’t really think of many directors who could possibly get me more excited for one of their releases than Alexander Payne. Maybe it’s a bit strange to get excited for a guy who’s made a career for himself by directing low-key, character-driven drama/comedies, but the guy’s style really works for me. Then [...]

Free as a Bird

John — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:48:17 +0000

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Here I am living in a post-Oasis world now with two albums that are kind of like Oasis but still not Oasis. The first release was from Liam Gallagher’s new band Beady Eye (basically Oasis minus Noel) which sucked. Now we have Noel’s solo [...]

Immortal Kombat

John — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:32:39 +0000

Immortals Last year I went and saw Clash of Titans and liked it which probably made me one of five people who actually liked it. I suppose I have a genuine love for Greek Mythology so I get excited simply seeing it attempted on screen, or so I thought. In my original review of Clash [...]

Whovember: Nancy’s Top Ten

Matt — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 07:05:14 +0000

Almost totally forgot to do this. Wah-oh. I went through a pretty big Who phase back in the day and definitely consider myself a Who-er on the Who/Zeppelin debate. Not that I ever thought that debate was intelligent. This was fun considering I haven’t really visited my who collection in quite a while. 10. The Real Me [...]

Whovember: Colin’s Top Ten

Colin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:28:17 +0000

I know this is completely coincidental, but this week actually turned out to be a pretty good one to do Whovember, since it marked the release of the Quadrophenia Deluxe Edition reissue, so that’s something. Anyways, The Who are probably my favorite band of all time, so doing a list like this certainly wasn’t easy [...]

Whovember: Sean’s Top Ten

Sean — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:01:11 +0000

It seems like Zeptember was just the other day, but here we are, in the midst of another theme week. I don’t understand the Led Zeppelin/Who rivalry, or why battle lines where drawn there, but having done this for both bands, I think Zeppelin wins. Narrowly, because while they have more songs I feel strongly [...]

Whovember: John’s Top Ten

John — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:10:01 +0000

I was a late bloomer when it came to listening to The Who. I didn’t become truly interested in the band until high school but when it hit me it hit me hard and now I’m doing this list. I’d heard most of Who’s Next but my first copy, which was burned from somewhere was [...]

Welcome to Whovember

John — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:17:02 +0000

Considering how much fun we had with our Zeppelin themed “Zeptember” week we here at Mildly Pleased have decided to do another rock iinfused, pun-inspired, theme week with “Whovember”. We all love The Who here at the blog at least to some extent, so it’ll be exciting to see why that is. In the same [...]

Trouble Comes Calling

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:30:08 +0000

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Do you still like Call of Duty? I don’t mean the WWII shooters that started the franchise, I mean the multiplayer-focused more modern ones that have become as akin to November as the Saw film series was to Halloween. Every year, since 2007, we’ve gotten the latest entry in [...]

Someone Find Them a Chart

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:45:47 +0000

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception One of the seemingly endless stream of “threes” coming to gaming the last few months, Uncharted 3 had the odds stacked against it. After all, while the first game in the series was commendable, it wasn’t especially remarkable. So when that second game came out and basically defined the cinematic gaming [...]

Hate is a Battlefield

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:07:57 +0000

Battlefield 3 I was definitely on board with the Battlefield franchise as soon as I saw the first game, 1942. It was the first time I ever played a conquest-style game like that before and it really impressed me. I’ve tried to stick with the series over the years, but I was hesitant to get involved in [...]

C.A.T: They Might Be Giants

John — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:44:04 +0000

They Might Be Giants – They Might Be Giants (1986) I was hoping we could start Whovember this week but I didn’t want to spring it on everyone without any announcement so it can wait another week, but beware you have no been warned! Anyways, Colin an I had a good run reviewing nine debut albums in [...]

My Low Xylophone

Sean — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:10:42 +0000

Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto When they were on The Colbert Report a little while ago, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin was asked about comparing his band to Radiohead. His reply? “They’re more talented musically, but we’re more handsome.” And that’s it, really. Radiohead has gone on to put out albums that challenge the music industry, genres and [...]

The Dark Knight Returns

Sean — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:45:38 +0000

Batman: Arkham City After a summer of Marvel, I’ve recently descended into the depths of DC. And it would be hard not to, with all the new material they’ve been putting out lately. As part of the New 52 initiative, every single DC comic has been relaunched in the past month or so, which, you’ve got to [...]

Something Wild

Colin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:25:25 +0000

Wild Flag – Wild Flag Olympia’s Sleater-Kinney had always been a band that I liked, but kind of had a hard time really getting into. I guess I just always found myself hoping they had more songs like One Beat’s “Oh!”, which is considerably more, well fun, than their more overtly political and feminist material. [...]

Will Comply

Colin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:42:16 +0000

Wilco – The Whole Love It seems like it’s been ages since I did that Wilco Retrospecticus, doesn’t it? Well despite the fact that this album’s been out for a while, I don’t feel like I have a ton to say about it since I don’t really find Wilco to be the funnest band to [...]

Recap: Zombcon 2011

John — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:10:54 +0000

I know it was like two weeks ago but I just realized I never wrote about Zombcon 2011. I was waiting for Paul to post pictures on Facebook but seeing as he is still yet to do so I might as well write about it before I forget anymore details. For those who aren’t familiar [...]

C.A.T.: Flip Your Wig

Colin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:02:29 +0000

Hüsker Dü - Flip Your Wig (1985) I’m just gonna guess that we’re not doing Whovember for another week or two, so I’ll just go ahead and return to our year-by-year CAT’s for at least this week. I pretty much knew I had to do a Husker Du album for 1985 since they managed to put out [...]

The Future of Fear: An Opinion Piece

John — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:33:39 +0000

Well Shocktober is winding down so I thought I’d take a minute to discuss a question that’s been on my mind lately “Is the age of good horror movies over?” So often I hear horror fans speaking fearfully about the decline of horror movies but have the screams really become that much fainter? As the [...]

Shocktober: Day 31

John — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:57:58 +0000

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2008) Rather then end Shocktober or “Shlocktober” on a grim note with my disgust of Rob Zombie’s Halloween, I decided I’d end the countdown with a movie that personifies what Shlocktober is all about. So many times I’ve used the phrase “So bad it’s good” and this is one of the [...]

John’s Top Five Horror Films of 2011

John — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:24:06 +0000

You don’t see a lot of “Top Fives” on the blog but I also don’t see many good horror movies these days. Thankfully there’s always a few so I can at least do a this short list. It’s a little complicated to sort out when all these movies actually came out considering most of the [...]

Shocktober: Day 30

John — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:51:22 +0000

Halloween (2007) Never have I wanted to walk out of a theater more than when I saw this soulless piece of schlock. Ninety unbearable minutes of unbelievably unsavory characters taking part and being subjected to grisly, meaningless, violence. Some may argue that “Making it hard to watch only makes it more effective.” but to that [...]

Shocktober: Transformers 3

Sean — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:02:24 +0000

Transformers: Dark of the Moon After Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was such an unmitigated disaster, how could people want a third one? How could they want another Michael Bay Transformers movie so badly that they turned Dark of the Moon into one of the highest grossing films of all time? Who are these people? To [...]

San Fran Rock City

Sean — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:32:06 +0000

Driver: San Francisco It seems like every year there’s one racing game that captures my interest. Last year, it was the totally thrilling Split/Second. This year, somehow, it’s the latest Driver game. The Driver franchise has never been one that I cared about, save for when I heard Driv3r was starring Michael Madsen, Mickey Rourke [...]

Shocktober: Day 29

John — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:11:16 +0000

The Wicker Man (2006) Remakes, yuck! They’ve really taken over Hollywood in the past decade and from the looks of it are here to stay. But do remakes really make enough money to justify there being so many? I guess some do okay, but it’s my opinion that many underperform due to a general lack [...]

Bloodcurdling Beginnings

John — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:30:09 +0000

Paranormal Activity 3 It’s movies like that this that remind us why we still have movie theaters. The feeling of a group of people all coming together to share the same thrills and chills is a feeling that will never be toppled by the internet. These are the same reasons that Paranormal Activity has been [...]

Shocktober: Day 28

John — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:59:19 +0000

Alone in the Dark (2005) Fuck that shit.

Shocktober: Day 27

John — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:14:05 +0000

House of the Dead (2003) Back when I was a lad we had a computer in the basement that had House of the Dead. Of course the combination of shooting things and zombies instantly won me over and it quickly became my favorite on-rails shooter. Then this dick you may have heard of named Uwe [...]

If You’re Feeling Feisty

Sean — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:33:09 +0000

Feist – Metals I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I know a lot of people were sucked into the world of Feist by “1234,” but I actually didn’t get The Reminder until well after those commercials were relevant. The song that did it for me was “I Feel It All,” which I [...]

The Best Thing to Come from The Polyphonic Spree

Sean — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:09:57 +0000

St. Vincent – Strange Mercy Baroque pop is a silly term. Moving on, the first St. Vincent album I heard was Actor, her second record. I really liked the first song, “The Strangers,” but the rest of it didn’t really stick with me. Why that is is probably worth investigation and analysis, but I have [...]

Within and Without You

Sean — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:42:19 +0000

Washed Out – Within and Without I’ve been listening to Within and Without by Washed Out for the past few months and it’s probably one of my favorites of the year. That means I should probably write something about it. So, here I am, writing about music again. It feels… uncomfortable. Not just because I [...]

Shocktober: Day 26

John — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:26:17 +0000

Jason X (2001) I saw this film when it was still new to home video (sure sounds weird to say that now) and even back then I thought it was one of the dumbest things I’d ever seen, though I was 13 and you know how cynical teenagers can be. But no seriously this has [...]

Old Balls

Matt — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:13:22 +0000

Moneyball Moneyball was an interesting experience for me. When I first heard they were turning the hit book into a movie, I was halfway through a book entitled The Book. That book is a straight up text book read, and although it’s extremely well written and interesting, it is definitely not an easy read. There are no stories, [...]

C.A.T: The Number of the Beast

John — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:43:37 +0000

Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (1982) A lot of the albums I’ve reviewed this month have been on the border between hard rock and heavy metal, this album is full on metal. Though I’m certainly no metal head I have respect for the musicianship that goes into the genre and will admit that [...]

Shocktober: Day 25

John — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:11:03 +0000

Anaconda (1997) I remember hearing about this movie when my mom and stepdad went to go see this in theaters in 1997. It started out promising enough but by at about the midpoint everyone in the theater was cheering for the snake to kill everybody and I think I see why. It’s not that the [...]

Shocktober: Day 24

John — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:46:27 +0000

The Mangler (1995) Oh how the mighty had fallen with Tobe Hooper’s (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist) adaptation of this little Stephen King short story. Though Hooper’s career had been on the decline throughout most of the 80s this seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for his career in mainstream cinema. The film [...]

Shocktober: Day 23

John — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:13:05 +0000

Leprechaun (1993) Countless sequels to popular franchises seems to be a staple of the horror genre, not a good one, but whacha gonna do? It’s wedged in there and it always will be. So what franchises come to mind? Well there’s Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre to name [...]

Shocktober: Day 22

John — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:01:26 +0000

Troll 2 (1990) Few film’s legacies have so greatly benefitted from the fact that the film itself was bad. The fact that Troll 2 is so memorably bad probably has done more for the film than if it was even just okay. In recent years Troll 2 has given other crappy classics a run for [...]

Shocktober: Day 21

John — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:11:35 +0000

Slugs (1988) Just when you thought nothing could top killer rabbits we have yes, Killer slugs. Yeah you heard me KILLER SLUGS or at least stupid people that accidentally kill themselves in the presence of killer slugs. I don’t know what’s supposed to be scary about painfully slow gastropods but I guess there’s only so [...]

T3: Really Long Songs

Colin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:59:06 +0000

Man, this post required a lot of listening time. As you’ve probably gathered, in response to Sean’s post last week of his favorite short songs, these are my favorite songs that push the 10-minute mark. My criteria was basically that they all be rock songs, and I decided finally to include live songs, but they [...]

Shocktober: Day 20

John — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:32:13 +0000

Hobgoblins (1988) What a shame that I have to phone in this film considering I already phoned it in once on this blog a few October’s back. That;s too bad because this is one of th more notable bad movies of the 80s, often mentioned around the likes of Troll 2, but I only saw [...]

Shocktober: Day 19

John — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:40:48 +0000

Chopping Mall (1986) First of all awesome title! But that wasn’t even the original name of this schlocky Roger Corman produced flick. The original title of this movie was “Killbots” which is even more awesome! But actually that title is kind of misleading. I don’t think anyone would guess this is a film about killer [...]

C.A.T: Blizzard of Ozz

John — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:28:22 +0000

Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz (1981) Recently I was paging through a copy of Horrorhound magazine when I came upon an article about all the best horror themed metal albums of 1981. How someone came up with such a strangely specific article I don’t know, but even though I don’t consider myself a metal fan [...]

Shocktober: Day 18

John — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:08:14 +0000

The Pod People (1983) I’ve seen my fair share of bad horror movies but too often I find that some of the most irritating are the foreign horror films. I’m talking about the kind of films that are quickly and poorly hobbled together, sloppily dubbed and then shipped out to the US market. The kind [...]

Shocktober: Day 17

John — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:09:07 +0000

Basket Case (1982) Some might say the selection of Basket Case was a a misstep on my part. Most of the film’s I’ve selected for “Shocktober” or “Shlocktober” have bee universally panned, but this one not as much as I thought. Sure I found it on many web columnists’ and blogger’s “Top Ten Worst Horror [...]

Shocktober: Day 16

John — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:27:07 +0000

Galaxy of Terror (1981) Were taking a trip back to Roger Corman’s film school with this one. Known as the King of B-movies, Roger Corman has directed and produced countless B-movies (good and bad) on shoestring budgets for many years and has also trained some of Hollywood’s best along the way. Everyone from Francis Ford [...]

Shocktober: Day 15

John — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:13:30 +0000

I Spit on Your Grave (1978) A film that Roger Ebert once memorably called “A vile bag of garbage” there’s nothing funny about the sadistic exploitative pile that is I Spit on Your Grave. Showing rape is always a controversial move in any kind of film but I think it can be justified if done [...]

Shocktober: Day 14

John — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 07:51:47 +0000

The Incredible Melting Man (1977) I’ve learned a many a useless fact from watching all these bad movies but one that never fails to amaze me is whenever I discover a new horror sub-genre. For instance, the film in question is apparently categorized under the quite appropriate sub-genre of “Melt Movies” which is exactly what [...]

Retrospecticus: Resident Evil

John — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:07:28 +0000

This doesn’t really have much to with anything, but it’s horror related so I’m calling it a very special Shocktober retrospective. I know there’s a lot spinoff games and Resident Evil on-rails shooters, but I’m going to try to stick to the main series. Hopefully I can recall most of my life and experiences correctly, [...]

Shocktober: Day 13

John — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:31:53 +0000

Death Bed The Bed That Eats (1977) Thirty-four years ago there was a man with a dream. A man who just wanted to tell a story about a bed, a bed that eats people. Tragically director George Barry simply flew too close to the sun for the film Death Bed the Bed That Eats was [...]

T3: Really Short Songs

Sean — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:01:32 +0000

Just something I was thinking about. I’ll be brief, because these songs sure are… Less than 90 seconds to be exact. 10. The Pixies – “Crackity Jones” You’ve got to admit, this song moves. 9. The Stone Roses – Elizabeth My Dear This is what it would be like if the Stone Roses were more [...]

Shocktober: Day 12

John — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:05:03 +0000

Night of the Lepus (1972) Ever since Hitchcock’s The Birds there’s been no shortage of killer animal movies just about every year. This fascination with creepy critters seemed to culminate in the 70s when these films were a dime a dozen. You had films like; Frogs, Kingdom of the Spiders, Grizzly, Squirm, Day of the [...]

Hard to Resist

Sean — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:50:28 +0000

Resistance 3 Did you ever wonder what it would be like if they turned the movie version of The Road into a video game? It might be a little like Resistance 3. Except with way more aliens. Taking place some time after Resistance 2 (it’s hard to tell how much, since I never played the [...]

Never Tell Me the Odds

Sean — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:22:46 +0000

50/50 While we all wait with bated breath for Nancy’s Moneyball review, I figured I might as well right something about the other movie everybody’s probably already seen by now. In 50/50, Adam, the proxy for screenwriter Will Reiser, finds out he has cancer in his back. He’s only 27 years old and seemingly quite healthy, so [...]

Damned Good

Sean — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:46:02 +0000

Shadows of the Damned Shadows of the Damned is an embarrassing game. It is a collaboration of two of the greatest game developers Japan has to offer, Suda51 (No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil). Despite that, or perhaps as a result of that, a significant proportion of Shadows of the Damned is dick [...]

C.A.T: Love it to Death

John — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:19:53 +0000

Alice Cooper – Love it to Death (1971) I swear this is my final post about Alice Cooper. After this I don’t know why I’d ever need to write about him again. Frankly, I don’t even want to write about him right now, but I’ve always thought “Hey, it would be fun to review this album [...]

Shocktober: Day 11

John — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:48:10 +0000

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) The story behind this horrendous horror flick starts in 1966 when theater actor/fertilizer salesman Harold P. Warren made a bet with future oscar winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant that he could make a successful independent horror movie. So he assembled a crew and cast of people and with little to [...]

Shocktober: Day 10

John — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:47:02 +0000

Monster a-Go Go (1965) Monster a-Go Go seems like one of those films where someone really wanted to make a quick buck by using the least amount of effort imaginable, including the overall lack of an idea. I’d imagine it was the monster craze of the 1960s that was responsible for even giving movies like [...]

Shocktober: Day 9

John — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:08:10 +0000

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964) Some movies are good, some are bad, and some are Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, if you can even consider that a movie. I mean the title sums it up just perfectly, this is a film where no [...]

Shocktober: Day 8

John — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:56:36 +0000

The Creeping Terror (1964) I’ve seen a lot of monsters but nothing quite matches the crappiness of this blob-like mess. Supposedly the makers of The Creeping Terror originally made a much better monster suit but it got stolen. So with little money to spend they assembled a creature so ridiculous that it’s now infamously known [...]

Shocktober: Day 7

John — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:31:24 +0000

Eegah (1962) Best known as the iconic steel-toothed “Jaws” from the Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker Richard Kiel may be the most famous 7’2″ actor to ever grace the screen. An advantage that gave him countless roles as various thugs and monsters it will always be this particular film that will [...]

American Gothic

John — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:39:14 +0000

How appropriate that in midst of “Shocktober” a show like this premieres on television? The latest from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk the creators of Nip/Tuck and ugh Glee have returned to FX with their latest off the wall series American Horror Story. Did I say off the wall? What I meant to say is [...]

Shocktober: Day 6

John — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:56:22 +0000

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) Another crappy classic I reviewed many full moons ago, let’s revisit the heart pounding thriller that is The Beast of Yucca Flats. This frightful Tor Johnson vehicle stars Tor as famous soviet scientist (yeah right) Joseph Javorsky who has just arrived in Yucca Flats, Nevada only to be ambushed [...]

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Sean — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:10:34 +0000

Every single day, everyone at Mildly Pleased uses an Apple product. Personally, I spend most of my day with Apple products, between all the work I do on my iMac and all the procrastinating I do with my iPhone. Steve Jobs has been the face of Apple for so long it’s easy to think of [...]

Shocktober: Day 5

John — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:29:46 +0000

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) I don’t know how this film became the poster child for all bad movies but it certainly is a doozy. Ed Wood’s grand opus of sci-fi shlock has has somehow become a cult phenomenon in the last thirty years and is now considered required viewing for any fan of [...]

C.A.T: Paranoid

John — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:43:45 +0000

Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970) I do whatever I can to get into the Halloween spirit every October and that usually includes my own soundtrack. Mostly it comprises of horror movie soundtracks but I usually throw in a few rock bands that I believe embody the spooky spirit of the season and for some reason [...]

Shocktober: Day 4

John — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:32:06 +0000

The Killer Shrews (1959) “Those who hunt by night will tell you that wildest and most vicious of all animals is the tiny shrew.” I don’t think you could ask for a better introduction to one of the best films about giant, poisonous, rodents ever made.Thorne Sherman (James Best) and first mate Griswold (Judge Henry [...]

Shocktober: Day 3

John — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:39:03 +0000

The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1957) Have you ever seen a movie where you had no recollection of seeing it right after watching it? That’s what happened to me after watching The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy an incredibly dry b-movie from Mexico. I wasn’t lying when I said some of these were going [...]

Shocktober: Day 2

John — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:48:46 +0000

Bride of the Monster (1955) You just can’t do a bad movie retrospective without some mention of the legendary Edward D. Wood Jr. Famously known as “The World’s Worst Director” though I think that could be debated today, cough Uwe Boll, cough, cough, but there’s something special about Wood’s movies much in the way that [...]

I’m Not With You

Colin — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:40:36 +0000

Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You Have I outgrown the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or have they just failed to outgrow themselves? That’s really the question I keep asking myself when I listen to this album, and it’s probably a little bit of both. I really just haven’t gotten much joy out of [...]

September Girls

Colin — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:12:41 +0000

Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost Sorry to interrupt Shlocktober at such an early state, but there’s a couple of posts I need to get out of the way. So far this year, there’ve been quite a few releases from bands that I’ve really liked in the past, but it seems like most of them [...]

Shocktober: Day 1

John — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 23:07:11 +0000

Robot Monster (1953) Here it is in all it’s glory the sci-fi triumph of the silver screen Robot Monster! If you’ve ever read my past Shocktober entries then you may of remember that I reviewed this a year or two ago, but let’s recap anyways. Robot Monster was one of many in the “Atomic Shit” [...]

Welcome to Shlocktober

John — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:49:10 +0000

I can’t believe it’s already that time of year again! Naturally part of me is excited but also a little overwhelmed at all the posts I’ll have to write to keep up with all 31 days of “Shocktober”. For those unfamiliar with this theme I’ll be reviewing 31 horror movies in 31 days, although this [...]

Behind the Music: Bond Edition

John — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:00:18 +0000

This post doesn’t really have anything to do with anything relevant, I’ve just always wanted to share this. Not that this blog needs anymore Alice Cooper related posts (I still got one later for Shocktober, sorry) but I thought it would be just as good as time as any to talk about something that I [...]

“Why are my dreams always nightmares?”

John — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:51:12 +0000

Alice Cooper- Welcome 2 My Nightmare I don’t think there was ever really a moment where I thought this album would be any good. Just look at that cover it’s horrible! But I’m a big fan of Alice’s 1975 concept album Welcome to My Nightmare and when I heard he’d be reuniting with the original [...]

World’s Finest

John — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:32:30 +0000

Patton Oswalt – Finest Hour Stumbling upon this was kind of happy accident for me. There I was just browsing through the comedy section of my itunes library and wondering “I wonder when the next Patton Oswalt album comes out?” So I looked it up on the web and without any prior knowledge discovered it [...]

Retrospecticus: Wilco

Colin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:06:53 +0000

I wasn’t really sure whether it’d be worth it to do this retrospecticus or not, but the fact of the matter is I’ve heard all of Wilco’s albums, so I figured I’d give it shot. Much like the new Beastie Boys album, I’m not really that excited about Wilco’s new album since, let’s be honest, [...]

You Drive Me Crazy

John — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:08:27 +0000

Drive Adapted from Jame’s Sallis’s 2005 crime novel of the same name Drive was originally planned to be a big budget action flick staring Hugh Jackman, thank god that never happened. Several years later Ryan Gosling became attached to the project and sought out Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn to direct. I’d seen Refn’s last [...]

Band of Dudes

Sean — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 07:01:08 +0000

Gears of War 3 There’s always been more to the Gears of War franchise lurking under the surface. Sure, the games themselves seemed like mindless macho brosturbation, there were the artsy trailers. There was the fact that the world seemed to have so much lore, but we only saw a little of it. After all, [...]

When Doves Crysis

Sean — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 07:01:07 +0000

Crysis 2 It could be easy to forget that the first Crysis was more than just a tool for benchmarking your PC’s power, it was an interesting FPS that combined Far Cry with aliens and super suits. While I enjoyed the original, it was another computer game that I lost interest in and never finished. [...]

Zeptember: Kevin’s Top Ten

Kevin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:48:02 +0000

Let me begin by stating that anyone who reads this post most likely knows more about Led Zeppelin than I do. That being said, apparently, no one in the band is actually called Led Zeppelin. Just some cool name for a band. Same concept used in Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Kalvin Klein, and Helly Hanson. [...]

Zeptember: Matt’s Top Ten

Matt — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:32:11 +0000

Honestly I was never THAT into Zeppelin. I had a little phase in junior high like every kid that likes rock and roll does, but it mostly consisted of my playing my burnt Zeppelin live album that “the Paine” gave me over and over and over and over again. In those few months, I was [...]

Webcomics!

Sean — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:29:30 +0000

Good news everyone, I’ve finally got the webcomics aspect of the site mostly working! This took a while, since I basically had to learn PHP and all sorts of fun backend stuff that most real websites just hire out to professionals. If you didn’t already know, the main reason we moved from Da Morgue Dot [...]

Zeptember: Colin’s Top Ten

Colin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:45:05 +0000

From as long as I’ve been rockin’ I’ve always loved Led Zeppelin, but for some reason I’ve never thought of them as one of my all-time favorite musical artists. I guess the thing that always kept me from truly embracing them was that they always had this God-like status, and you never really got a sense [...]

Zeptember: Sean’s Top Ten

Sean — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:01:49 +0000

I’m assuming we’re all sticking to the “Stairway to Heaven” is disqualified rule, even though no one has officially mentioned it. If that is indeed the case, then these are my ten favorite Led Zeppelin songs. It was damn near impossible to narrow it down to these ten, since I had around 50 songs that [...]

Zeptember: John’s Top Ten

John — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:26:14 +0000

I love to let the led out and I had a blast revisiting one of my favorite artists to make this list, so I hope you have your share of good times reading this post. 10. Boogie with Stu Leave it to Led Zeppelin to take a completely typical blues progression and make it their [...]

Welcome To Zeptember

Colin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:01:36 +0000

With summer finally behind us, it’s about time we actually start posting on a semi-regular basis, and what better way to lead us into that than a theme week followed by the post orgy that is Shocktober. This year our theme of choice is that of the mighty Led Zeppelin, a band that we all [...]

“That’s not very scary. More like a six-foot Turkey.”

John — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:14:58 +0000

Kasabian – Velociraptor! Just two years since their last release and Brit-electro rockers Kasabaian are at it again, whatever “it” is supposed to be. In the past Kasabian has delivered plentiful portions of danceable and hard rock tunes but have seemed to mellow on Velociraptor. No, I don’t mean it’s an album of ballads or [...]

It’s a Good Time to be Pissed at Nintendo

Sean — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:59:26 +0000

This monstrosity is the Nintendo 3DS Slide Pad add-on. It’s probably the biggest news out of TGS, even though Nintendo announced it before the event and pictures were leaked out before that. If you’ve never seen a 3DS before and you’re wondering why it looks so bulky and lopsided, let me tell you what’s new. [...]

Sort of Sweet Child of Mine

Sean — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:25:00 +0000

Child of Eden Child of Eden was clearly designed to be played with the Kinect. Since I don’t have one, I don’t know what I’m doing reviewing this game. When you factor in that I enjoyed, but didn’t necessarily love, Child of Eden‘s spiritual predecessor, Rez, I feel hardly qualified to talk about this game, nonetheless [...]

Hump De Bumbershoot

John — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:45:00 +0000

Last year was my first outing at Bumbershoot; the northwest’s premier music festival, at least last year it was. Last year the headliner was none other than music legend Bob “Motherfucking” Dylan and along with Neko Case and The Decemberists it was an event not to be missed. So how could they top that? Well [...]

C.A.T: The Smiths

John — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:41:00 +0000

The Smiths – The Smiths (1984) What a tragedy of almost Shakesperian caliber when a classic album segment has to be phoned in, especially to such a talented group. Colin is really the blog’s resident Smiths fan so my outlook comes from more of a casual observer. I listen to the Smiths every now and [...]

A Bewitching Game

Sean — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:50:00 +0000

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings I was a little nervous going into The Witcher 2. The first game didn’t seem as fun to me as everyone else seemed to think it was and I never got that far into it. Like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, I just didn’t see what they saw [...]

C.A.T.: Murmur

Colin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:25:00 +0000

R.E.M. – Murmur (1983) OK, so I guess I could keep the whole debut album trend going for at least one more week. And since my summer basically comes to an end this week, I guess it’s kind of fitting that I do an R.E.M. album, since I spent much of the summer getting deeper [...]

Legacy of Lame

Sean — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:26:00 +0000

Dragon Age II – Legacy It seems that I was in the minority when I came out in favor of Dragon Age II. The game suffered from a lack of scope, to be sure, but I had fun playing it. The first major DLC for the game was a weapon pack, which probably wasn’t the [...]

The Vault: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Sean — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:35:00 +0000

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Super NES) Released after the eponymous series’ first season, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers came crashing onto the Super NES at the height of the beat ‘em up genre. Unfortunately it does basically nothing to stand out in the world of brawlers, aside from represent the Power Rangers franchise. That’s not necessarily a bad [...]

C.A.T: Billy Idol

John — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:31:00 +0000

Billy Idol – Billy Idol (1982) We’ve featured some fairly innovative and cutting edge albums lately, this is not one of them, but I’ll go ahead and tell you that despite what ever preconceived notions you may have, this album is worth listening to. The debut solo album from the frontman of Generation X, Billy [...]

Blinkerton

John — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:15:00 +0000

Last saturday I witnessed something very special for any Weezer fan with a true blast from the past. Honestly I think it would of been a treat for any Weezer fan, even those who may have grown cynical after Weezer started recording songs like ugh… “Beverly Hills”. How could one show satisfy all walks of [...]

I Killed Your Brother and I Want to Kill You

Sean — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:46:00 +0000

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon In a lot of ways, EDF: Insect Armageddon is better than its surprise hit predecessor. The voice cast is better, the controls are significantly tighter and it finally adds the online multiplayer that the previous game so desperately needed. It seems like everything a fan could ask for. But the [...]

Monkey Magic

Sean — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:58:00 +0000

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Here’s a review of a game I wish I had played last year. Enslaved is the latest game from developer Ninja Theory, the team behind PS3-exclusive Heavenly Sword and the upcoming Devil May Cry reboot DmC. It is a game that does not break new ground, borrowing its action-adventure gameplay heavily [...]

Ape Escape

John — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:35:00 +0000

Rise of the Planet of the Apes If you are reading this the apes have won… Or at least they’ve won over audiences with back to back weekends at the top of the box office and glowing reviews. It’s one of those things you can’t believe until you see it. “Really people like this movie? [...]

C.A.T.: Stands For Decibels

Colin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:53:00 +0000

The dB’s – Stands For Decibels (1981) It’s fitting that last week John did The Feelies’ Crazy Rhythms for a CAT, because whenever I listen to that album I almost always feel like listening to The dB’s debut as a sort of geeky double feature. I guess these two albums just always remind me of [...]

Like A Rollin’ Stone

Colin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:09:00 +0000

Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ For me, this summer has pretty much been one big ball of barren blandness in terms of new music, there’s just hasn’t been a whole lot that I’ve latched on to. So I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to venture a bit outside my usual indie rock fare, and [...]

3DS First Impressions

Sean — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:56:00 +0000

On Friday, Nintendo reduced the price of the 3DS portable console to $169.99 – making it a tempting purchase for anyone who was on the fence. I hadn’t bought a new Nintendo handheld since 2006 (my DS Lite) and when I learned about Walmart dropping the price early, I decided to pounce. You see, to [...]

C.A.T: Crazy Rhythms

John — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:08:00 +0000

The Feelies – Crazy Rhythms (1980) This week’s album was an interesting discovery for myself considering how I actually stumble on this fine little nugget of an album. I was watching Jonathan Demme’s 1986 film Something Wild a while back when I noticed this offbeat little band playing in the background of a scene between [...]

Going Medieval

John — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:36:00 +0000

The Kaiser Chiefs – The Future is Medieval I remember being so excited for this album at one point in time and then when it finally came out I felt nothing. It’s as if all my excitement and interested peaked in one day and let me explain why. The Future is Medieval was one of [...]

C.A.T.: The Specials

Colin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:08:00 +0000

The Specials – The Specials (1979) It seems that in most of rock’s more notable subgenres you’re always bound to find at least one or two albums that stand out as transcendent of their genre, and are really accessible to anyone. The Specials’ 1979 debut strikes me as one of those albums considering I’m not [...]

Get Some Poon

Matt — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:14:00 +0000

Poon – Get Some EP Get Some, the newest release from the sexiest band in the world, POON, debuted Thursday night at the number 3 slot on bandcamp.com’s newest artist page. The instant hit EP is a fan favorite, and is sure to catapult the group back to the fame and fortune they once new. [...]

C.A.T: Van Halen

John — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:05:00 +0000

Van Halen – Van Halen (1978) For me this summer has been all about the rocking! I don’t know if it’s playing in the band Poon or simply the fact that it’s been awhile since I’ve revisited some of my old rock albums, but it’s been awesome. Twice a week when I’m puling freight shifts [...]

The Bravest Man I Ever Knew

Sean — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 06:24:00 +0000

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 The whole Harry Potter thing was pretty amazing. The books are one thing; a long-running fantasy series is not without precedent, although the success of the series probably was. But it’s the film series that truly seems amazing to me. A decade-spanning eight movie series that [...]

O Captain! My Captain!

John — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:25:00 +0000

Captain America: The First Avenger With the final Avengers piece in place it’s only a matter of time before we’ll all be watching the most hyped superhero movie of all time. So last but not least we have ol’ red, white, and blue Captain America in a slick WWII era action flick. Originally created in [...]

Out Of The Cabin And Into The Wild

Colin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:35:00 +0000

Bon Iver – Bon Iver Prior to checking out Bon Iver’s self-titled album, I didn’t know a whole lot about this band besides that the first Bon Iver album was record by a bearded dude alone in a Wisconsin cabin, and that said bearded dude went on to appear on Kanye West’s last album. Well [...]

C.A.T.: Pink Flag

Colin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:37:00 +0000

Wire – Pink Flag (1977) By 1977, the punk zeitgeist was reaching it’s peak as The Clash’s debut infiltrated the top 20 of the UK album charts, while The Sex Pistols’ debut went to number 1. Now I was considering talking about either of those albums for this week’s CAT, but I figured I’d go [...]

I’m a Troll Man

John — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:44:00 +0000

Troll Hunter Straight from the whimsical heart of Norway I give you Scandinavia’s answer to Cloverfield with Trolljegeren aka “Troll Hunter.” Released into Norwegian theaters last October but just seeing the light of day in June here in the states, Troll Hunter (despite it’s terrible Syfy Channel sounding name.) is one of the most exciting [...]

The Host with the Most

John — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:39:00 +0000

The Perfect Host There’s been a whole jumble of independent films I’ve wanted to see lately, but haven’t had much luck actually seeing any of them in theaters. I’m not even sure if this particular film has received a proper release yet, so let’s just say I acquired this one by my own means. What [...]

Real Men Kill Each Other

Sean — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:21:00 +0000

Mortal Kombat Midway went out of business last year, leaving the future of many of that company’s legendary series in question. The Mortal Kombat property, along with many of its developers, including series creator Ed Boon, ended up with WB Interactive, creating a new studio called NetherRealm. Their first game is a reboot of sorts, [...]

C.A.T.: Ramones

Colin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:47:00 +0000

The Ramones – Ramones (1976) The 4th of July weekend has once again come to a close, but now let me indulge you with what could easily be declared the great American punk album. The Ramones’ debut is one of those albums that I’m sure a lot of people haven’t even bothered listening to because [...]

A Song of Ice and Fire

Sean — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:13:00 +0000

inFAMOUS 2 With all the hubbub surrounding E3, it would have been easy to forget that once of the most exciting games to come out this year was actually released the same day the convention began. inFAMOUS 2 is a stellar sequel that lives up to its memorable predecessor. Since a lot of people just [...]

The Game of Life: Choose Your Destiny!

John — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:59:00 +0000

The Tree of Life How do you solve an enigma like Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life? A film that at times is both beautiful and at other times incomprehensible. Though what can you expect from the J.D. Salinger of filmmakers? Arguably similar both in the mastery of their craft and their uncompromising reclusiveness. It’s [...]

C.A.T: Another Green World

John — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:20:00 +0000

Brian Eno – Another Green World (1975) Seems like it was only a couple weeks back that I mentioned this album in my review for the latest Death Cab release, so it makes sense for me to give you my two cents on Brian Eno’s electro pop pioneering third album. Descending into stripped down, almost [...]

We’ll Always Have Paris

Colin — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:53:00 +0000

Midnight In Paris I always love a good Woody Allen movie. But the quality of his output has been a little inconsistent in the last fifteen years or so, which has led to me seeing very few of his recent films. So when I saw the positive reviews for his latest film Midnight In Paris, [...]

C.A.T.: Radio City

Colin — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:14:00 +0000

Big Star – Radio City (1974) Sorry for the lapse in C.A.T’s, I guess I’ve just had a lack of enthusiasm about writing another one of these things, just as I’m sure everyone has a lack of enthusiasm towards reading them. Anyways, Big Star has always been one of my all-time favorite bands, so it’s [...]

Eight is Enough

John — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:22:00 +0000

Super 8 On May 2010 I was nestled in a crowd of many awaiting the latest Iron Man when a particular trailer of unknown origin appeared. This purposefully ambiguous trailer would of course be Super 8, JJ Abrams second stab at the secret viral marketing game. I like many had fallen into the web of [...]

The War Story Quiz

John — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:21:00 +0000

With such a great post week going why stop now? So here’s the official War Story quiz that I’d always mused about making. I’d say the difficulty is fair if you’ve seen all 11 episodes. Don’t feel bad if you can’t 100% it, I bet Paul couldn’t even get 100%.

E3 2011

Sean — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:45:00 +0000

The Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone once again. The convention is always a mess to cover for the organizations who actually have people there, for a civilian like myself, it’s damn near impossible. So I’ll just tell you about what I’ve gleamed so far. The biggest news of the show was the announcement [...]

T3: Fictional Presidents

Sean — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 06:59:00 +0000

Just a little thing I was thinking about after learning that Jack Ryan becomes the president eventually in those Tom Clancy books. Who is your favorite fictional president? I bet you can guess mine. 10. Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho – IdiocracyHere is a president who we can all admire. President Camacho cares about [...]

01010100011100100110111101101110

Kevin — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Tron: Legacy Ever looked at a computer motherboard? It’s neat how all the conductors, circuits, wiring, and batteries all come together to such a beautiful array. Oh and the forest green tint of the board itself, not even fire engine red is that attractive. All in all, computer hardware looks pretty nifty. Tron: Legacy is [...]

Family Circuital

Sean — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:25:00 +0000

My Morning Jacket – Circuital How is it we’ve only had six My Morning Jacket albums? They’ve gone so far, I’m amazed this is that same band that put out their first few albums. And of course, they aren’t. Band members have come and gone and the group’s ambitions have grown out of control. Circuital [...]

Antlers in My Pantlers

Sean — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:56:00 +0000

The Antlers – Burst Apart Fleet Foxes’ reign as my go to album was cut tragically short by a series of late-May releases. You’ve already heard about the latest from Death Cab and we’ll be talking about My Morning Jacket soon enough, for now, let’s take a moment to talk about Burst Apart, the latest [...]

Highly Devolved

John — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:55:00 +0000

The Vines – Future Primitive There are few bands that I’ve once liked and then just plain given up on. Jet, once one of my favorite groups have been on the fast track to “I don’t give a shit city” along with Kings of Leon who now look like a bunch of bored GAP models. [...]

Sex Men: First Ass

John — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:11:00 +0000

X-Men: First Class (Spoilers Ahead)You see what I did there with the title? Eh, you like that? Just like a porno huh? So how exactly does a Joe Pinchpenny like myself end up seeing a movie called X-Men: First Class anyways? Well for starters, I love the X-Men. It’s the first comic series I ever [...]

Maid Of Dishonor

Colin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:21:00 +0000

Bridesmaids It seems like a female answer to all the bromantic raunchy comedies in recent years is something that’s been long overdue. Well the new(ish) comedy Bridesmaids certainly delivers on that notion, and who better to deliver such a film than mega comedy producer Judd Apatow? Still, most guys don’t seem willing to go out [...]

Death Cab Decoded

John — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 06:54:00 +0000

Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys I had a handful of posts planned for this week, but with school finals I fell a bit behind. Don’t worry though, I still plan on doing my weekly installment on the story of The Defenestrators, I’ll just have to postpone it a little further so be [...]

Monday Mad Libs

John — Mon, 30 May 2011 23:05:00 +0000

I was going to write about the DaMorgue crew trip to Bend, Oregon last weekend to see Death Cab For Cutie and Bright Eyes but I just fell too far behind/lost interest. All I’ll say is that it was a beautiful experience, almost as beautiful as the last half hour of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Junior (Check [...]

C.A.T.: Head Hunters

Colin — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:36:00 +0000

Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters (1973) It’s weird how whenever an album leaves your iTunes, it almost ceases to exist. Or at least that’s what seemed to be the case with Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters, an album that I lost years ago (can’t recall why), but I downloaded it about a month ago and have [...]

Sending Out an S.O.S.

John — Sat, 21 May 2011 06:24:00 +0000

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides I had no intentions of seeing yet another cash in Pirates movie, but when I got the call from Ben last Friday I came to the conclusion that “Someday and in some form I will eventually see this movie, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday.” So [...]

T3: The Sounds Of Summer

Colin — Thu, 19 May 2011 21:44:00 +0000

Well I’m sitting here waiting for my final class of the semester as one final summer vacation hangs in the balance, all while Sean and Nancy prepare for real fucking life. So just for the hell of it, I figured I’d take a look at my all-time favorite “summer songs”. Now I’m not saying this [...]

C.A.T: Pink Moon

John — Tue, 17 May 2011 06:59:00 +0000

Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1972) This week honors what in the past few years has become one of my favorite and most listened to albums. It’s the intimate swan song from English singer-songwriter Nick Drake before his quiet descent into obscurity and then untimely passing two years later from a drug overdose at the [...]

Summertime Blues

Colin — Tue, 17 May 2011 04:09:00 +0000

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues With their refreshingly straightforward brand of folk-pop, Fleet Foxes created one of the most beloved debut albums in recent memory. Their latest album Helplessness Blues, is one of those great sophomore releases that sees the band expanding just enough on their sound to feel like an impressive step forward while [...]

Hanna Get Your Gun

Sean — Sun, 15 May 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Hanna I’ve never been the biggest fan of director Joe Wright. I never saw Pride & Prejudice. I thought Atonement was not nearly as great as everyone told me it was supposed to be and I wrote The Soloist off as pathetic Oscar-bait. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to give the guy a [...]

It’s a Post About Nothing.

John — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:26:00 +0000

I am only writing this post to avoid the risk that this could be a one post week. I like to think that I personally should be able to write at least one post a week, even if I have nothing to say. With that said I suppose I could use this time to mention [...]

C.A.T.: Who’s Next

Colin — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:23:00 +0000

The Who – Who’s Next (1971) I’m not quite sure how it happened, but somehow we’ve done 100+ CAT’s and yet we’ve never done one from a band that all of Da Morgue writers have been fans of for a long time, The Who. I pretty much love every one of The Who’s albums from [...]

Retrospecticus: Marvel Movies

John — Fri, 06 May 2011 08:45:00 +0000

In honor of the latest Marvel release Thor, I present to you with my own retrospective of previously released Marvel films. Now before you go asking yourself “Where’s such classics as Howard the Duck and the 80s Punisher?” So let me first establish that I will only be discussing films produced and co-produced by Marvel [...]

Living in Perfect Harmony

Sean — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:32:00 +0000

Pokémon White Version Right before the Nintendo 3DS came out (remember that?) another big Nintendo product was released in America: the latest Pokemon games. Pokemon Black and White versions bring the series into its official fifth generation and feature the most changes the series has seen yet. But is that enough, or has Pokemon become [...]

Retrospecticus: Beastie Boys

Colin — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:44:00 +0000

Our week of retrospecticuses continues with a look back at the career of the Beastie Boys, who’s Hot Sauce Commitee Part 2drops this week. It’s probably not even the album that comes out this week that I’m most excited about, but still, the last time the Beasties released a proper hip-hop album was during Bush’s first [...]

Mission: In-Freaking-Sanity

Sean — Mon, 02 May 2011 10:34:00 +0000

Fast Five Since taking over the franchise with Tokyo Drift, director Justin Lin has done an amazing job developing the mythology of this ridiculous series. Things have gotten so insane that Fast Five is basically an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist movie. That’s right the gang’s all here: Dom, Brian, Mia, Han, Roman, Tej, Tego, Rico and [...]

Retrospecticus: The Fast and the Furious

Sean — Mon, 02 May 2011 10:14:00 +0000

It’s the eternal question: how can there really be five The Fast and the Furious movies? I thought that first movie was just a big long ad for NOS (it was). How can a franchise based on car fetishism and bro love become one of the longest-running in recent cinema history? Honestly, I don’t know. [...]

Goodbyes Stink

Sean — Sun, 01 May 2011 03:43:00 +0000

The Office – “Goodbye, Michael” The weird thing about TV shows, especially long-running TV shows, is the insane amount of character development that can happen through years of new episodes and writers. Inevitably, everyone gets together, becomes friends, has fights, breaks up and so on. After its all over, it’s amazing how far characters have [...]

The Real ApocalyPS3

Sean — Sun, 01 May 2011 02:37:00 +0000

If you’ve tried to take you’re PlayStation 3 online in the past week or so, you might have noticed something: you can’t. That’s because Sony was forced to shut down the PlayStation Network after a massive breach in security. According to the official blog, hackers have taken every single PSN users’ name, email address, password, [...]

C.A.T: Tea for the Tillerman

John — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:12:00 +0000

Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman (1970) Don’t let that cheesy gnome cover fool you, this is a real gem from the golden age of the singer-songwriter. Released at the height of Cat Stevens’ popularity Tea for the Tillerman is thoughtful folk rock that provides spiritual answers to life’s everyday questions. While he’ll sing [...]

My Life in Holes

Sean — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:17:00 +0000

Portal 2 There has been some excellent symmetry between my first year of college and my last. When I was a freshman, I remember being really excited to play Halo 3, Assassin’s Creed and The Orange Box, which included the runaway hit Portal. As a senior, I’ve gotten to play Halo: Reach, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood [...]

C.A.T: The Stooges

John — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:19:00 +0000

The Stooges – The Stooges (1969) I was gonna write about Dylan’s Nashville Skyline (My second favorite Dylan album after Highway 61 Revisited) but after dragging my feet for a day or so I just wasn’t sure what to say about it, another time perhaps. Then when I noticed it was Iggy Pop’s birthday I [...]

Mass Effect Beginner’s Guide

Sean — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:06:00 +0000

Over the past few weeks I’ve replayed the first Mass Effect and made it about half way through Mass Effect 2. It has cemented them as among my favorite games. Before I shift my focus to next week’s Portal 2 I wanted to share the wealth with anyone who has yet to delve into this [...]

Any Time Will Do

Sean — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 06:59:00 +0000

TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light I usually try wait a little while for someone else to review a new album, or at least until I’ve listened to it enough that when I hear a track I like I don’t have to go look up what it’s called. But you know what? [...]

Cry Me a Riviera

John — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:58:00 +0000

Metronomy – The English Riviera Much has changed since multi-instrumentalist Joseph Mount released the experimental electronic, mostly instrumental, album Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe) in 2006 under the moniker of Metronomy. Since then he’s released the incredibly infectious Nights Out and even added some new members to this former solo act. Metronomy has [...]

C.A.T.: Astral Weeks

Colin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:18:00 +0000

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968) Well it’s taken about three years, but we’ve finally reached 100 CAT’s, and we’ve still yet to post one that actually seemed worth writing. For this 100th CAT I’ve picked somewhat of a doozy, as Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks is one of those great albums that really defies any [...]

Angles in the Outfield

John — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:14:00 +0000

The Strokes – Angles If we let any more time slip by I might just forget about this entirely. So remember how The Strokes hadn’t released an album since 2006 and everybody was like “What’s the hold up?” I even remember hearing rumors that guitarist Albert Hammond Jr being in rehab among other things. Regardless [...]

The Real America

John — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 23:26:00 +0000

Red State Red State is the latest from the mind of Kevin Smith, yet it’s neither associated with Smith’s View Askewniverse or even the comedy genre for that matter, rather it’s an experimental film… A mad experiment! Though why would Smith feel the need to separate himself from the genre that’s made him so beloved [...]

An Evening with Silent Bob

John — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:41:00 +0000

Here’s my lengthy retelling of the night I met Kevin Smith. It’s probably full of grammar and spelling errors as I didn’t have the energy to proof read all this. I don’t expect anyone to read the whole thing so I hope you enjoy skimming it, snoogans! It’s still a little difficult to process everything [...]

C.A.T: The Velvet Underground and Nico

John — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:14:00 +0000

The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) How perfect that today’s (or whenever this gets posted) classic album tuesday honors the year 1967, as I’ve recently rediscovered my love for The Velvet Underground. I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but I’m glad it did as my last two weeks have been [...]

A Source is a Source of Course

John — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 07:35:00 +0000

Source Code What would you do if you had less than a minute to live? That’s part of the dilemma that Capt. Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) must face time and time again within the confines of the source code. The second directorial effort from Duncan Jones (Moon), Source Code is a razor sharp sci-fi thriller [...]

Pro Homo

Sean — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:58:00 +0000

Dragon Age II The discussion surrounding Dragon Age II has taken a bizarre turn of late. The game features four potential romantic partners, two women and two men. All of them will express varying degrees of interest in your character, regardless of your gender, and you can take those feelings “all the way,” if you [...]

Gimme Some Lovin’

John — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:32:00 +0000

Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some I have to get this post in before April Fool’s Day or it will just seem like a joke. Anyways, last tuesday saw the release of Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John’s sixth album Gimme Some. Known most recently for their indie experimentation on album’s like Writer’s Block [...]

C.A.T.: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Colin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:11:00 +0000

Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966) I think Sean wishes the CAT would just go away, so I’m posting this in direct defiance of the King of Da Morgue, plus I gotta have something to post about. So anyways, Simon and Garfunkel were more or less the preeminent folk-pop duo of [...]

Close Encounters of the Turd Kind

John — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Paul Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Pegg and Frost… At least I always thought they could be that caliber comedy duo. They wooed geek fanboys with cult classics like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but what doesn’t this have that those did? Edgar Wright. So maybe these real life best buds were [...]

C.A.T: Introducing the Beau Brummels

John — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:03:00 +0000

The Beau Brummels – Introducing the Beau Brummels (1965) Not to toot my own horn, but I have a fairly eclectic collection of 60s pop music. I love everything from the stars of the British Invasion to the no name joe schmoes banging away in the garage. Though It’s rare that I delve any deeper [...]

Death, Destruction, Blood, Rock

John — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Does anyone remember Death By Hangers? You know that one death metal band from Satanville, Rhode Island? I hear they’re working on a new album and they just released this new song that’s pretty bad. Regardless of whether people want it or not, it’s being made, just thought I’d give you the warning. P.S. I [...]

REMember These Guys?

Colin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:08:00 +0000

R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now As R.E.M. hobbled through the ’00s, they definitely seemed like a band that probably should have broken up after the departure of original drummer Bill Berry in 1997. But then in 2008 they came out with Accelerate, an energetic little album that saw the band showing some serious signs of [...]

Lykke My Love Pump

Colin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:52:00 +0000

Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes There hasn’t been a whole lot of music that I’ve really gotten into so far this year, though I guess I haven’t really been trying that hard. I mean I haven’t even listened to the new Bright Eyes album yet, although I’m sure I will eventually since I’m seeing them [...]

C.A.T.: At The Copa

Colin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 01:37:00 +0000

Sam Cooke – At The Copa (1964) I don’t think there’s any denying the fact that Sam Cooke is my favorite vocalist of all time. He had a voice that seemed to be heaven-sent, and Cooke knew how to use it to reach the highest highs in a way that seemed effortless. However his reputation [...]

Home on the Rango

John — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Rango It’s all the raw, untamed, grit of a western combined with eye popping animation to make possibly one of the strangest films about an anthropomorphic reptile in the old west ever seen. His name is Rango (Johnny Depp) and he’s a fish out of water into a tall glass of Texas tea. Just so [...]

Different Gear, Still Sucking

John — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 06:36:00 +0000

Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding A Noel Gallagher-less Oasis is like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles without Leonardo, they can still fight, but without a born leader they’ll never defeat Shredder. Though I can’t say I was surprised when Noel left Oasis in 2009, I can say I’m surprised it didn’t happen about [...]

C.A.T: Please Please Me

John — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:48:00 +0000

The Beatles – Please Please Me (1963) You got to crank out an album from a heavy hitter every once in awhile right? Nah, I just couldn’t think of anything, basically it was between one Beatles album and another Bealtes album. Please Please Me gets the edge over With the Beatles for a handful of [...]

King A Da Limbs

Colin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:13:00 +0000

Radiohead – The King Of Limbs Radiohead albums are always a lot to take in, seeing as though they’re always so meticulously crafted. I don’t think I really “got” In Rainbows until about three or four months after it came out. So forgive me if I get everything completely wrong about Radiohead’s latest release The [...]

Speakin’ Da King’s English

John — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 05:32:00 +0000

I feel like this post gets harder to write every year. So either I’m getting lazier, or I’m still a little disoriented by all the chocolate cream pie and cream soda. So another year, another Oscar ceremony in the can and thus my yearly reflection of the night of a thousand stars. To start I [...]

More Than I Wanted to Know

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 07:59:00 +0000

Unknown Let’s be clear about one thing: Unknown wanted to be 2011′s Taken. It was released early in the year, has a sexy European setting, is practically a one-man Liam Neeson show and is about him trying to get something back. This time it’s his identity, a bit more abstract an idea, and it all [...]

British Space Nazis

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:53:00 +0000

Killzone 3 The second Killzone game came out under some pretty intense pressure. The original trailer seemed, and in fact was, too good to be true. Killzone 3 not only needed to be one of the PlayStation 3′s first killer apps, it needed to be Sony’s Halo. That’s asking a lot for a sequel to [...]

Baby Hooker

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:37:00 +0000

30 Rock – “TGS Hates Women” Well, congratulations 30 Rock. You made a joke about “v cards,” something I’m pretty sure Kevin invented on one of our many trips to Seattle’s own Dicks restaurant. I don’t know how to deal with that. I don’t think I have the capability to deal with that. This week’s [...]

Skywriting isn’t Always Positive

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:28:00 +0000

Parks and Recreation – “Indianapolis” I think, as usual, Ron wins this weeks Parks and Recreation. Why? Because he got to say this: “You may have thought you heard me say I wanted a lot of bacon and eggs, but what I said was: Give me all the bacon and eggs you have.” You see, [...]

Justice Beaver

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:18:00 +0000

The Office – “Todd Packer” Well, they can’t all be winners. This week’s Office focused on Michael’s oldest friend, Todd Packer. Packer, you might remember, is a huge jerk who makes everyone uncomfortable with his mean sense of humor. The character has been consistently used as someone whom everyone hates, which means he’s pretty hard [...]

Pop Pop

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:10:00 +0000

Community – “Intro to Political Science” I salute Community for poking fun at the vice president, a target that hasn’t been as utilized for comedy as I would have imagined. But, then again, lot’s of things haven’t turned out the way I thought they would back in late 2008. Anyway, this was the political episode [...]

Happy Valenbirthiversary

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 03:00:00 +0000

Modern Family – “Regrets Only” I’m sorry I missed most of the shows last week, I was busy and no one else on the blog has any opinion about television at all. As you’ll remember, last week was the episode with the princess party, which, at the very least, gave Cam and Mitchell something to [...]

Rapscallion is Going too Far

Sean — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:45:00 +0000

How I Met Your Mother – “Garbage Island” How I Met Your Mother kept pushing forward all the plots it’s been hinting at this week, which I appreciate since the show is usually somewhat stagnant. Marshall, still grieving the loss of his father, is having trouble getting motivated about work. He has realized that when [...]

C.A.T.: Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music

Colin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Ray Charles – Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music (1962) I was going to do James Brown’s Live At The Apollo, but then I found out that it wasn’t actually released until 1963 though it was recorded in 1962, contrary to what my iTunes tells me. But luckily, 1962 saw the release of another [...]

I Don’t Know Why They Call it a Pomegranate, But it Looks Like a Pomegranate.

John — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Bright Eyes – The People’s Key So many years of putting off Bright Eyes and once I finally become a fan they release their last album. Unfortunate yes, but what a note to go out on. Granted I haven’t heard the entire collected works of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott, but from what [...]

The Mistake of British Morning Socks

Sean — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:34:00 +0000

How I Met Your Mother – “Desperation Day” I like that How I Met Your Mother is spending a fair amount of time on Marshall and his loss. It would be easy for a sitcom to make it a two-parter and move on, but as “Desperation Day” proves, he’s going through a lot more than [...]

C.A.T: Two Steps from the Blues

John — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:01:00 +0000

Bobby Bland – Two Steps from the Blues (1961) Don’t let the name fool you, there’s nothing bland about this soulful blues man. Known as the “Lion of the Blues”, Bobby “Blue” Bland had a voice as powerful as it was sweet, marvelously showcased on perhaps one of the most underrated soul classics of all [...]

R.I.P. Kenneth Mars

John — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Kenneth Mars1936-2011What a shocker, I didn’t know he was that old, or that he had cancer, but I guess that’s because he just seemed to keep so busy even into his last years. Yes Kenneth Mars possibly the funniest man to ever impersonate German people has passed on. Famous for his roles in such Mel [...]

I Never Sleep in Planes, I Don’t Want to Get Incepted

Sean — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:41:00 +0000

30 Rock – “Double-Edged Sword” Once again, my chief concern with 30 Rock is not the quality of its episodes, but that it’s not on until 10 p.m. and by then I’ve watched Community, waited a half and hour, and the Office and Parks and Recreation. I think I’ll have to start watching these separately. [...]

It’s Not the Size of the Boat: Embracing Life with a Micropenis

Sean — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:25:00 +0000

Parks and Recreation – “Ron & Tammy: Part 2″ I’m not sure about this, but I feel like consensus among Da Morgue’s staff is that Ron Swanson is the best part of Parks and Recreation. Now I don’t say that lightly, because the show is really good for each and every one of its cast. [...]

Saving the World Has Never Been This Hard

Sean — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:14:00 +0000

The Office – “PDA” I’m gonna say it: The Office is back. I don’t know for how long, or why it couldn’t happen sooner, but this show has been consistently solid for a number of weeks now. I still think Gabe is too creepy and awkward in the wrong way for the show, but pretty [...]

Gravedigger’s Biscuits

Sean — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Community – “Early 21st Century Romanticism” An episode of Community like “Early 21st Century Romanticism,” as Todd Van Der Werff points out over at The AV Club, feels more season one than season two. Community of late has been so much bigger than just a college event episode like this. After all, we’ve had zombie [...]

Down Zonoscope

John — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:09:00 +0000

Cut Copy – Zonoscope I remember one time I was riding along with Paul and he was playing Cut Copy in his car and I was just thinking, “Why does this sound so familiar?” So I did a little research and realized, I’d actually seen them live. Yeah in October 2005, opening for TV on [...]

You Can’t Win Valentine’s Day

Sean — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:26:00 +0000

Modern Family – “Bixby’s Back” With a show like Modern Family, it’s especially hard to escape the holiday trap. Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, while they need not feature in all shows, with a family-centric sitcom, you can’t really skip them. That said, you should at least try to do something new. I don’t mean for [...]

Lights Out

Sean — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:07:00 +0000

Friday Night Lights – “Always” The funny thing about saying goodbye to Friday Night Lights is that I’m not really sure when I started liking the show. I remember thinking the first season was overly melodramatic, and that the second season took some really stupid subplots and dragged them through more of the season than [...]

Undercover Brother

John — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:13:00 +0000

The moment has finally come for Strokes fans, what do you call Strokes fans? “Strokers”? That sounds bad. Anyways, today marks the official release of the first single “Under Cover of Darkness”. Available for free download on their site for the next 48 hours or so, though I’d recommend just checking it out on Youtube, [...]

How I Met All Women Who Aren’t Your Mother

Sean — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:23:00 +0000

How I Met Your Mother – “Oh, Honey” One of the best features of How I Met Your Mother is how it plays with narrative structure. Since the story is told by Ted of the increasingly-less-distant future, episodes can have him misremember events and prevent stories non-linearly. I feel like the show has played with [...]

C.A.T.: Giant Steps

Colin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:58:00 +0000

John Coltrane – Giant Steps (1960) This’ll probably be the last jazz album I’ll do as we head into that wonderful decade of music that was the sixties. When I was first getting in to jazz in high school this was probably the album that really hooked me in like no other, and it’s still [...]

Easy Like Sunday Morning

John — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:36:00 +0000

I missed the chance last year, but the year before that I did a fairly extensive Super Bowl recap here on the DaMorgue. I’m not going to do that, but I see no harm in expressing a few thoughts regarding this annual sports phenomenon that is the Superbowl. First off I guess, there’s the teams [...]

Watch It on Your Thing Carlos Thought Of

Sean — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 06:06:00 +0000

30 Rock – “¡Qué Sorpresa!” Is it weird that comedy TV has turned me into a Brian Williams fan? Every time B Dubs shows up on The Daily Show or 30 Rock, he makes me laugh. I know very little of his actual work. This week he showed up as a gossip once again, but [...]

Long Live Zorp

Sean — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 05:48:00 +0000

Parks and Recreation - “Time Capsule” Man I love me some Parks and Recreation. The show has one of the best ensembles of characters on TV right now and it handles them so well. While it’s been hard to say goodbye to Mark and it’s been a little weird that Leslie has been acting like she’s the [...]

Michael in the City

Sean — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 05:31:00 +0000

The Office - “The Search” The thing that bothers me most about The Office is that I’ve rather enjoyed it these past few episodes. It’s not really the same show it was in the beginning, not nearly that good. But after a lengthly lackluster streak, I’ve been having a good time with what the show has done [...]

Role-Playing Community

Sean — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 05:13:00 +0000

So I’m gonna start reviewing TV episodes, since, well, why not? I usually do seasonal wrap-ups, but why not just talk about the show as it goes on? I’ll do the best I can to post every week, and who knows, maybe the rest of the team can get in on this too. Community - “Advanced [...]

2011 Tuneage

John — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:56:00 +0000

Hasn’t been a post in awhile, I’ve been damn busy as I assume that’s been the case for most of us at DaMorgue. I don’t even know if there’s anything that’s been going on worth mentioning, unless you want to hear us tackle the issues in Egypt. In the past we’ve done a whole slew [...]

C.A.T: Time Out

John — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:20:00 +0000

The Dave Brubeck Quartet- Time Out (1959) My knowledge and or interest in jazz may not expand past a few albums, but I have a lot of respect for the genre. I wish I could hit you up with a more obscure jazz record, as opposed to such a popular one, but it’s all I [...]

Oscar Shmoscar: Surprises and Snubs

John — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:27:00 +0000

Even though not much surprised me with the Oscar announcements this morning, I still feel it’s my duty to address the matter, considering how often we talk about movies here anyways. So where to begin exactly? Well let’s begin with the things that surprised me. Javier Bardem for Biutiful, the latest from Mexican writer/director Alejandro [...]

C.A.T.: Milestones

Colin — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:37:00 +0000

Miles Davis – Milestones (1958) The late ’50s to early ’60s wasn’t really a time in which the album had really taken hold as a huge force in rock n’ roll, and everything seemed to more based around singles. I know jazz hasn’t really been represented on this blog at all, but I figured it [...]

Long Live the King

John — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:22:00 +0000

The Decemberists – The King is Dead Last September, myself and fellow Damorgue blogger Nancy Tin-Tin went to Bumbershoot. There we had the pleasure of seeing indie folk rockers The Decemeberists. Not only that but we got to hear three new cuts off of their then unreleased album before anyone else. This was also where [...]

C.A.T: The "Chirping" Crickets

John — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 03:01:00 +0000

The Crickets- The “Chirping” Crickets (1957) We had a good run with our regular “Classic Album Tuesday” segment spanning consecutive albums from 1976-2003, but I think there’s a point where you have to draw the line on how much time is needed for an album to become a classic, so we settled snugly in the [...]

Rage in the Cage

John — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 08:19:00 +0000

Cage the Elephant – Thank You Happy Birthday And so it begins again. It’s only been a week since we posted our Favorite Albums of 2010 and here I am back to reviewing new albums and I never would of believed you if you told me the first would be by Cage the Elephant. For [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Movies of 2010

Sean — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 03:42:00 +0000

2010 felt like a disappointing year for movies, yet here I am with like 10 movies that I feel should be on this list but couldn’t make the cut. Yeah, I’m looking at you, The Kids are All Right. So quickly: Micmacs is neat, The Fighter is good, The Town is a lot of fun, [...]

Kevin’s Nine Movies of 2010

Kevin — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:12:00 +0000

Overall, 2010 was a great year for Kevin. Regarding movies, however, 2010 was one of pity. I only racked up seeing nine movies in theaters this last year, not counting seeing Inception twice. All the movies I screened in the public setting I enjoyed and feel they can be ranked. They are as follows. (I [...]

Colin’s Top Ten Movies of 2010

Colin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:30:00 +0000

I’m starting this post pretty late, so I hope I won’t be tempted to just write about how tired I am. Then again, I guess these lists are more about the rankings of the items on the lists rather than what we have to say about them. But anyways, I saw 29 movies over the [...]

John’s Top Ten Movies of 2010

John — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:04:00 +0000

Here at DaMorgue, we take our time when it comes to selecting our favorite films of the year. We all have so much passion for film, so it’s something we don’t take lightly. I mean it takes time to see all the movies worth seeing, especially when they cram all the best ones into the [...]

DK Checks In

John — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:57:00 +0000

Donkey Kong Country Returns Yeah, this has been out for awhile but seeing that it was a Christmas gift, I wanted to wait till I’d played through it a bit. Unfortunately I went back to school (minus my Wii) before finishing it, but I think I’ve played it enough to come to a reasonably fair [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Albums of 2010

Sean — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:08:00 +0000

When I look back at 2010, I’ll remember it as the year that I tried to get into two new genres. One was electronic music, which I would say was a great success thanks to terrific albums from the likes of Flying Lotus and Four Tet. Then there was my failed attempt to get into [...]

Colin’s Top Ten Albums of 2010

Colin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:42:00 +0000

There was a lot of music that came of 2010 that I really enjoyed. I think my grand total for albums was around 25, which is considerably more than I usually end up with. I’m not sure if I’m becoming more open towards new music, or if I’m just running out of older music to [...]

John’s Top Ten Albums of 2010

John — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Another year, another top ten list. Out of the 24 albums I heard this year, I discovered a barrel full of albums I liked, but not very many that I loved. Though there’s still a lot out there that I’m yet to check out, most notably the latest from Arcade Fire who I’ll give a [...]

R.I.P. Pete Postlethwaite

John — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Pete Postlethwaite1946-2011This is so tragic considering the fact that Pete Postlethwaite was still working so steadily and he was only 64. I didn’t even know he had cancer, but sadly he succumbed to it on January 2nd. A highly skilled actor of both stage and screen, Pete Postlethwaite’s was a consummate pro no matter how [...]

Welcome 2011!

Kevin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:35:00 +0000

From all of us here at Damorgue, welcome to the year 2011! As we celebrate today as a beginning of a new year and decade, as well as a palindrome (1.1.11), I have calculated some statistics regarding Damorgue last year. 2010 was a busy year for Damorgue; we posted a whopping 262 posts, just 103 [...]

Top Ten Aviation Events of 2010

Kevin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 07:49:00 +0000

Let us reflect back on aviation events of 2010. These are the top ten aviation happenings by media coverage over the past year. 10. Does it Really Exist?One of the biggest aviation feats of this year occurred without anyone really knowing. The United States Air Force, with help from Boeing and Nasa built a fully [...]

Speaka De Kinglish

Sean — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:05:00 +0000

The King’s Speech It could have been easy to write The King’s Speech off as Oscar bait. A British monarchy movie and a World War II movie? Come on, give someone else a chance. But, whether you want to like it or not, The King’s Speech is a damn fine film that will warm its [...]

Marky Mark and the Punchy Bunch

John — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:26:00 +0000

The Fighter Some kinds of stories never die, we may see them over and over again, but that’s cause we love em. There’s nothing original about another underdog boxer story, but it can still provide the kinds of highs and lows we never tire of in the movie going experience. What we should feel fortunate [...]

C.A.T: Elephant

John — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:24:00 +0000

The White Stripes- Elephant (2003) Seems uninspired to do such a popular album, but at the same time it makes me realize something. It’s only been about seven years and this album is already considered a classic. Time flies I suppose, but I have so many fond memories of this album. I can clearly remember [...]

Season’s Beatings

John — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 05:46:00 +0000

“Married Christmas!” As I once declared in my younger and more vulnerable years. Today of course being that time of year that Jesus rises from the grave to feed upon the flesh of the living. No, I don’t have anything of particular note to announce, nor do I have a disturbing message of our watchful [...]

No Country For Fat Old Men

Colin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:49:00 +0000

True Grit As John’s retrospecticus has pointed out, the Coen brothers have already done novel adaptations as well as remakes. Their latest film, True Grit sees them taking on a project that is both a remake of the 1969 John Wayne film, but also an adaptation of Charles Portis’s novel. Now you’d think that a [...]

Retrospecticus: The Coen Brothers

John — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:22:00 +0000

For over twenty years, Ethan and Joel Coen have defied modern conventions with some of the most unusual, bold, and inventive films around. They’ve tackled countless genres and reinvented themselves time and time again, making them some of the most innovative filmmakers of their era. In preparation of True Grit i have assembled this list [...]

C.A.T: Turn on the Bright Lights

Sean — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:59:00 +0000

Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) Interpol’s 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights stands out the most to me from all the albums that came out that year. Maybe that’s because it showed so much potential for a band that could never quite live up to this monolithic release. Maybe it’s because [...]

"Get Ready for some Heavy Vengeance!"

John — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:21:00 +0000

For all you Da Morgue fans, I’m very happy to inform you that our 43 minute comedy film “Rock McTrigger in Heavy Vengeance” is now available on Vimeo, free of charge naturally. This completes our “McTrilogy” that we started in 2006 and were glad we could go out with a bang, hopefully we can put [...]

King Con

John — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:26:00 +0000

I Love You Phillip Morris So many movies so little time… It’s tough when you’re trying to see all the year’s best movies before the new year, especially when they’re all released in December. So sometimes I have to find my own means to see some of them, if you catch my drift. This one [...]

C.A.T.: Discovery

Colin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:09:00 +0000

Daft Punk – Discovery (2001) Now here’s an album that’s just one big joyous ball of awesomeness. I am by no means a fan of dance music, but if there’s any album that stands as the definitive entry in the genre, for me it’d have to be Daft Punk’s Discovery. Hey I just realized this [...]

Posthumous Pop

John — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:24:00 +0000

Michael Jackson – Michael I remember getting excited when I first heard “Breaking News”, the first track released from this posthumous collection. It wasn’t great, but it still showed that even in his last years, Jackson still carried more pop prowess in one gloved finger than most of your modern pop hacks. Than I heard [...]

Black On Both Sides

Colin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:19:00 +0000

Black Swan It seems we’re officially in to that Oscar-y part of the year, where the movies showing up in theaters are starting to get more somber and serious as well as higher in quality. Black Swan, the latest from director Darren Aronofsky is one of those films vying for some Oscar attention. Really it’s [...]

Requiescat in Pace, Capisci

Sean — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:08:00 +0000

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Before I actually played Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, I had my doubts about it. It has only been a year since the terrific Assassin’s Creed II, so how could Ubisoft have put together a whole new experience for this franchise that’s built on intricate plots and historical environments? Plus, all the marketing hinted [...]

2010 Music Wrap-Up: Lisbon

Colin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:26:00 +0000

The Walkmen – Lisbon Broken Social Scene, LCD Soundsystem, The National, Deerhunter, etc. 2010 has seen me getting into a lot of bands that have been around for a while, but had basically been ignored by me until this year. The Walkmen are another one of those bands, as it seems they’ve been putting out [...]

2010 Music Wrap-Up: Broken Dreams Club

Colin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Girls – Broken Dreams Club I pretty much never check out EPs, even if they’re from a band I really really like. But when a band releases an album as instantly likeable as Girls’ 2009 debut, it’s hard not to wonder “what else do these guys have got to offer?”. And basically this EP serves [...]

2010 Music Wrap-Up: Before Today

Colin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today We’re only a few weeks removed from the end of the year, and thus only a few weeks from our top ten of the year lists, or at least our top ten music lists. So I figured I might as well unload some reviews in a shameless attempt [...]

The Gibson Dilemma

John — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:12:00 +0000

Nearing a one post week, I had to post this and break that up. Originally I thought this post might be too controversial, but ehh whatever, this is all about the issues. The trailer for the long postponed dramedy, The Beaver was released recently and already there’s been heavy controversy and criticism surrounding it. Telling [...]

C.A.T: United

John — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 01:21:00 +0000

Phoenix – United (2000) I would of done Kid A if it wasn’t for the fact that a rumored Radiohead album next year could have potential for a future retrospective, so here is a review of a mighty fine ‘lil recording. My fondness for Phoenix doesn’t stem back that far, but in that little time [...]

C.A.T.: 69 Love Songs

Colin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:41:00 +0000

The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs (1999) Figured I might as well do this album for a CAT considering it’s been taking up a big chunk of the music I’ve been listening to lately. So move over All Things Must Pass, you’re no longer the lone triple album that’s been inducted into the hallowed [...]

Trapped in the Canyon

John — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:30:00 +0000

127 Hours .I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the year of the “claustrophobia film.” You had the elevator thriller Devil, the indie horror flick set in a coffin Buried, and now the harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco) and his experience between a rock and a hard place. [...]

R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen

John — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 04:27:00 +0000

Leslie Nielsen1926-2010What a shocker huh? I mean Leslie Nielsen had been working so long and all the way up his passing if I might add. It’s bizarre in that I was just watching Naked Gun 2 on TV yesterday, what a tragedy to lose “The Olivier of Spoofs” as Roger Ebert once called him. It [...]

Be Thankful for Free Music

Sean — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Girl Talk – All Day I can’t say I knew who Girl Talk was before last week, but when I heard this new All Day album was being given away for free on the Internet, well, let’s just say you’d have to be a real asshole to turn that down. So I checked it out, [...]

C.A.T: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

John — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:43:00 +0000

Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby (1998) It seems there’s been a trend “Classic Album Tuesday” posts lately, with the focus on more “indie” driven albums, ya know “less mainstream.” I couldn’t think of anything quite in that vein so I opted for the better known, but no less innovative sophomore release [...]

COD BLOPS

Sean — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:12:00 +0000

Call of Duty: Black Ops It’s been a rough year for the Call of Duty franchise. Certainly not financially, as last year’s Modern Warfare 2 made a ridiculous amount of money and Blops here seems to be on its way to surpass it. No, Call of Duty had a hard time because series developer Infinity [...]

The Beginning of the End of the End of the Beginning: Part 1

John — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:28:00 +0000

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 .It’s been an interesting trip rediscovering the Harry Potter franchise lately. Initially I only followed the first few books and movies, but now I can say I’ve at least seen all the movies, don’t think I’ll ever make the time to read another 800 page book about [...]

C.A.T: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Sean — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (1997) 1997 saw great new albums from Pavement, Radiohead, The Verve, Oasis and Foo Fighters, some of which we have already paid tribute to in this very feature. But Spiritualized is a group that as far as I can recall has only shown up as [...]

Off the Rails

Sean — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 05:06:00 +0000

Unstoppable “We’ve had airplane, bus, truck, even boat disaster movies, but have you ever seen a train as the centerpiece of the action before?” Tony Scott asked. “Yes, we have,” the studio executive replied, “in fact, your last movie was set on a train.” Scott paused for a moment, “Yeah, but, this time I’ve got [...]

C.A.T.: Endtroducing…..

Colin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:59:00 +0000

DJ Shadow – Endtroducing….. (1996) So it’s around 1 or 2 AM, and I’m not really feeling like going to bed quite yet, so what music do I decide should ease me into these wee hours of the morning? Well lately it’s been the etherial hip-hop odyssey that is DJ Shadow’s debut Endtroducing…. I’m not [...]

Jacko is Backo

John — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 05:27:00 +0000

I never know what people have or haven’t heard, but I was unaware until just recently that a posthumous Michael Jackson album is coming out this year. It’s not surprising considering that Michael Jackson is currently the hottest selling dead celebrity, but I think there’s a lot of potential for this project. I remember hearing [...]

Oh Deer

Sean — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:33:00 +0000

Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest It’s seems that every fall I must find an amazing alternative album by a band that I’ve never heard of but it turns out they’ve been around for a while. It looks like this year that band will be Deerhunter and that album will be Halcyon Digest. It’s been a little [...]

Fail the King

Sean — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Fable III When Fable III came out a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t seem real to me. I hadn’t really seen much of the game and the first two in the series seemed like they were in development for years. Yet here it was, only a couple years after Fable II, the next entry [...]

Brooklyn Beats

John — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:57:00 +0000

Matt & Kim – Sidewalks I was a big fan of Matt & Kim’s last release, 2009′s Grand. So I was curious as to where this drum and keyboard duo could take their sound. In this case they’ve gone the way of more Urban beats and bouncy synths to deliver their quirky style of indie [...]

C.A.T: I Should Coco

John — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:31:00 +0000

Supergrass – I Should Coco (1995) Remember when we were doing a “Classic Album Tuesday” for every year? Well I’m bringing it back and I believe we left off at 94′ so here’s the debut from Supergrass for 95. What happens when you mix frenetic punk music with pop melodies and shrill vocals? You get [...]

The Undead Air

John — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:36:00 +0000

Zombies seem to be everywhere these days, hell I went to a zombie convention last weekend. Basically the undead are as popular as ever and what better way to capitalize on that than with the first ever zombie TV show? I was ecstatic when I heard that AMC out of all networks was going to [...]

Shocktober 2010 Wrap-Up

John — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 08:39:00 +0000

Nothing much to report here, just calling an end to Shocktober, though I guess you could figure that out by looking at a calendar. Actually I’m already thinking about what to post next year, if there is a next year and I think I have an idea. Seeing that I finally saw Troll 2 recently, [...]

Shocktober: Day 31

John — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 08:27:00 +0000

The Mist (2007) Dir: Frank Darabont Cast: Thomas Jane, Laurie Holden, Nathan Gamble, Toby Jones, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Andre Braugher Well here it is, October 31st, All Hallows Eve! A time of the mischief and the macabre, oh yeah and candy. I decided to end this year with Frank Darabont’s The Mist for [...]

Shocktober: ZomBcon 2010

John — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 23:41:00 +0000

ZomBcon 2010! What a jewel of a convention this is… A shimmering, bloody, jewel. I’d never heard of it and judging from the modest crowd it would appear many are as well still unaware. I don’t even know if it’s been held before this year, but what a blast my brother Paul and I had [...]

Shocktober: Day 30

John — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 07:06:00 +0000

The Ring (2002) Dir: Gore VerbinskiCast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Brian Cox, Daveigh ChaseBasically this one follows the same plot as Scary Movie 3 except it’s not an abomination against god, but seriously The Ring has become one of the few horror highlights of the last decade with it’s disturbing images and mysterious [...]

Shocktober: Day 29

John — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Dir: Robert Rodriguez Cast: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Cheech Marin. Salma Hayek, Tom Savini, Fred WilliamsonHot off of the success of Pulp Fiction what was Tarantino going to do? Another hard boiled pulp crime film? How about a gory a vampire fest? I don’t [...]

T3: The Best of the Treehouse of Horror

John — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:16:00 +0000

I couldn’t go the whole Halloween season without at least one “Top Ten Thursday” list so I opted for one that I believe I’m knowledgable enough on. The Simpsons” “Treehouse of Horror”, what a treat it is every year to get this spooktacular special, at least it was back when The Simpsons was a quality [...]

Shocktober: Day 28

John — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:05:00 +0000

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Dir: Jonathan DemmeCast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, Scott Glenn, Anthony HealdOut of all the film’s on this list none have as much gold to flaunt as this thriller, by which I mean “Oscar Gold.” Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture… Damn, this [...]

The Rock of Life

Sean — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:24:00 +0000

Rock Band 3 With Rock Band 3, Harmonix has reached the logical conclusion for music games. Guitar Hero popularized the genre, Rock Band made it a party game, Rock Band 2 showed how one game could be a platform for content. Now they introduce keyboards and a pro mode to teach gamers how to really [...]

Shocktober: Day 27

John — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:38:00 +0000

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990) Dir: John McNaughtonCast: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy ArnoldThere’s hundreds of serial killer movies out there but you’d be hard pressed to find one that’s more disturbing and realistic than Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. A controversial indie thriller based on the crimes of the real murderer [...]

Shocktober: Day 26

John — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:13:00 +0000

Hellraiser (1987) Dir: Clive Barker Cast: Andrew Robinson, Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Doug BradleyWhen you think about the big Slasher baddies who comes to mind? Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, and chances are someone will mention Pinhead. I don’t know exactly how this outer dimensional monster made his way into the mainstream but [...]

Shocktober: Day 25

John — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Evil Dead II (1987) Dir: Sam Raimi Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Danny Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Ted RaimiIs it a remake? Is it a sequel? Whatever it may be it’s just about one of the most ridiculous horror movies you’ll ever see. Like if the Three Stooges wandered onto the set of a slasher movie, [...]

World Series 2010: Battle Of The Bengie

Colin — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:07:00 +0000

I still don’t believe it, I really don’t. This entire postseason has been one big ball of tortured awesomeness, and I can’t even describe the feeling I had after seeing Brian Wilson throw that final strike to Ryan Howard last night. There’s just something about seeing two full-grown men embrace each other in front of [...]

Shocktober: Day 24

John — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:13:00 +0000

The Fly (1986) Dir: David CronenbergCast: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John GetzI always like to include at least one original and remake version of the same film in my Shocktober feature so here’s one that maybe even surpasses the original. What comes to mind when you hear the name David Cronenberg? Exploding heads? Mutant killer [...]

Shocktober: Day 23

John — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 07:17:00 +0000

Re-Animator (1985) Dir: Stuart Gordon Cast: Jeffery Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David GaleFrom the brilliant mind behind Robot Jox and Space Truckers I bring you “Re-Animator”! Seriously though, Stuart Gordon has definitely had a hit or miss career but there’s no denying that this was his finest hour. Adapted loosely from the H.P. Lovecraft [...]

Shocktober: Day 22

John — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:06:00 +0000

Fright Night (1985) Dir: Tom HollandCast: William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall, Chris Sarandon, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, Jonathan StarkCharley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is your typical horror movie buff. He loves the classics and loves the late-night Horror movie show “Fright Night” hosted by self proclaimed, legendary, vampire hunter Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall.) But what happens when [...]

Shocktober: Day 21

John — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:35:00 +0000

Creepshow (1982) Dir: George A. RomeroCast: Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall, Ed Harris, Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, Stephen King, Fritz Weaver: EC Comics a.k.a Entertaining Comics produced some of the most controversial comics of the Late 40s to Early 50s. Titles like Tales from the Crypt , The Vault of Horror, and Weird Science, [...]

Shocktober: Day 20

John — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Poltergeist (1982) Dir: Tobe HooperCast: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Domonique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heater O’Rourke, Zelda RubinsteinI used to be kind of hard on Poltergeist for reasons I can’t really remember. I do think it holds back on being as dark as it could of been but whatever, that doesn’t change the [...]

Shocktober: Day 19

John — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:29:00 +0000

Zombi 2 (1979) Dir: Lucio Fulci Cast: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCullough, Richard Johnson“Zombi 2? Were doing a sequel now? What about Zombi 1? Is there a Zombi 1?” It’s sort of complicated but I’ll try and explain. Zombi 2, also known as; Zombie, Island of the Living Dead, Zombie Island, Zombie Flesh Eaters and Woodoo [...]

The Wonderful Land of Adz

Sean — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:50:00 +0000

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz Straight up, the only Sufjan Stevens album I ever listened to was Illinoise and in recent years even that has been reduced pretty much to just the track “Chicago.” For his part, he hasn’t really done a proper followup to that 2005 album, instead releasing lengthy EPs, bizarre [...]

Shocktober: Day 18

John — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) Dir: Wes CravenCast: Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Martin Spear, Dee Wallace, James Whitworth, Michael BerrymanIn the early 1400s the Beane Family, a feral clan roamed the highlands of Scotland. They murdered and ate transients until eventually caught and executed on the order of King James without a trial. This would [...]

Shocktober: Day 17

John — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Suspiria (1977) Director: Dario Argento Cast: Jessica Harper, Udo Kier, Joan Bennett, Alida ValliSuspiria: Beautiful, atmospheric, awful… “Wait Suspiria? Perhaps the most notable Italian horror movie ever made and you’re telling me it’s bad? Whatchu talkin’ bout Willis?” That would probably be the reaction from most horror movie purists. Suspiria has draw dropping cinematography, an [...]

Orange October Continues

Colin — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:52:00 +0000

Well it’s mid-October and the San Francisco Giants are still playing baseball. Honestly, I’m still having a hard team believing this, considering this was a team that I witnessed get swept by the Oakland A’s back in May, and were made to look absolutely foolish by the Padres for most of the season. But none [...]

Shocktober: Day 16

John — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 07:57:00 +0000

Jaws (1975) Dir: Steven SpielbergCast: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert ShawDun nun, duh nuh, duh nuh… Gives me chills just thinking about it. I’ve never been sure whether or not you could really classify Jaws as a “Horror” movie. I’ve always thought of it as an action/adventure more like Jurassic Park, but I figure it’s [...]

Conversations with Myself

Kevin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:38:00 +0000

Nelson Mandela The darkest moments in humanities history often reveals the brightest of stars. The 20st century was full of these stars, whether war heroes like Dwight Eisenhower, equality activists like Martin Luther King Jr., or Neil Armstrong who showcased that we can put a man on the moon, these guys are what make America [...]

Shocktober: Day 15

John — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 07:30:00 +0000

Black Christmas (1974) Dir: Bob Clark Cast: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea MartinWhat better time for mayhem than during the jolliest time of the year? It’s no surprise that the emerging slasher genre would work it’s way through all the holidays, but wait a second… This film predates John [...]

Shocktober: Day 14

John — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

It’s Alive (1974) Dir: Larry CohenCast: John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, William Wellman Jr, James Dixon, Daniel HozmanIt’s Alive is a movie about a mother who gives birth to a mutant baby that goes on a killing spree. I shit you not, that’s actually what this movie is about. Sounds terrible right? I mean what [...]

Shocktober: Day 13

John — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:41:00 +0000

Don’t Look Now (1973) Dir: Nicolas RoegCast: Julie Christie, Donald SutherlandBefore he was a director Nicolas Roeg was a talented Cinematographer. His work included The Masque of the Red Death, Fahrenheit 451, portions of Doctor Zhivago and even some contributions to the visual look of Lawrence of Arabia as a second unit photographer. Then in [...]

Shocktober: Day 12

John — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:37:00 +0000

The Last House on the Left (1972) Dir: Wes Craven Cast: Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln Jeramie Rain“The seventies already? What about the last 12 years?” Well let me explain. The sixties are tricky because most of the notable 60s horror flicks came out at the beginning of the decade, with [...]

Shocktober: Day 11

John — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 07:05:00 +0000

Black Sunday (1960) Dir: Mario BavaCast: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici(Warning: I’m Phoning it in!)You’ve probably heard me say about a million times that the 30s was the golden age of horror, but for one little country shaped like a boot it was around the early sixties. The debut film from Italian [...]

Shocktober: Day 10

John — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 07:29:00 +0000

Peeping Tom (1960) Dir: Michael PowellCast: Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley1960 belonged to Psycho and why not? It changed the shape of cinema and broke barriers, but it wasn’t the only controversial slasher of 1960. U.K. director Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom like Psycho was a film ahead of it’s time, but it [...]

Shocktober: Day 9

John — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 07:05:00 +0000

The Fly (1958) Dir: Kurt Neumann Cast: Vincent Price, David Hedison, Patricia Owens (Spoilers)If You like movies about men turning into insect hybrids but don’t like watching Jeff Goldblum throw up, than this is your film. Adapted from George Langelaan’s short story, The Fly is that classic tale of a man that tampers with science, [...]

Shocktober: Day 8

John — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Dir: Don Siegel Cast: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wyner, King Donovan, Carolyn JonesIt’s here already! It’s next! It’s next! Yes it’s my review of the 50s, Sci-Fi/Horror classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Culturally significant not only for it’s shock value but for it’s complex themes of alienation in modern [...]

Shocktober: Day 7

John — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 07:38:00 +0000

House of Wax (1953) Dir: Andre de Toth Cast: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Carolyn Jones, Roy Roberts, Charles BronsonNo not the spellbinding work featuring the immense talents of Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton, nor the version from 1933 starring Lionel Atwill, it’s the 50s classic starring the always devious VIncent Price. Groundbreaking for being [...]

Dormroom Billionaire

Sean — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:35:00 +0000

The Social Network Everyone already knows how big Facebook is today. The website’s addictive nature, privacy problems, massive influence, it is all common knowledge. So the idea of “Facebook: The Movie” did not initially sound like the most interesting project talents like writer Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher should be investing their time in. [...]

Shocktober: Day 6

John — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:10:00 +0000

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) Dir: Charles BartonCast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr, Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lenore Aubert, Jane RandolphI’d originally planned to do Val Lewton’s Cat People but due to poor planning, I’ll dust off this ‘ol gem instead. Though in a way this is just important as it might [...]

Shocktober: Day 5

John — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The Invisible Man (1933) Dir: James WhaleCast: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry TraversClaude Rains has provided some excellent supporting roles in some of the greatest films of all time . Senator Payne in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Capt. Louis Renault in Casablanca (1942), Alexander Sebastian in Notorious (1946), Mr. Dryden in [...]

Shocktober Shenanigans

John — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 06:31:00 +0000

Somehow I messed up my dates when compiling my Shocktober list. I accidentally posted The Invisible Man and Vampyr instead of a film I’d planned to put before. So to keep an organized timeline, I’m gonna change some shit up. I’m just posting this brief comment so that folks know what’s going on, that’s all, [...]

Da Podcasket Episode 05

Sean — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:58:00 +0000

Kevin Lemme, of kevinlemme.com, returns along with Colin’s Internet quality in this latest episode of Da Podcasket. There’s a lot to talk about and da gang aren’t afraid to get into it. The fall TV season, The Social Network and new video games are the focus of serious consternation. Plus, it wouldn’t be Da Podcasket [...]

Shocktober: Day 4

John — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Vampyr (1932) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer Cast: Julian West, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz,, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gerard, Maurice SchultzWere going a little on the obscure side today with the German produced Vampyr, a silent film that plays out like a hallucinogenic nightmare. Directed by Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer, Vampyr is an oddity in that [...]

Shocktober: Day 3

John — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Dir: Rouben MamoulianCast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell HobbesThis list has it’s fair share of critical darlings but it’s Paramount’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde that achieved one golden accolade rarely bestowed upon horror movies. Yes, star Fredric March took home the Oscar for Best [...]

Shocktober: Day 2

John — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 05:40:00 +0000

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Dir: Wallace Worsley Cast: Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Kate Lester, Brandon HurstThere were many legends of the silent screen, but few could be considered the “face” of their genre. In the 1920s horror had but one name: Lon Chaney, “The Man of a Thousand Faces.” A [...]

80s Week Wrap Up

John — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 05:30:00 +0000

By the Power of Greyskull we’ve done it! Another successful theme week. Successful in that we actually managed to think of enough pop culture junk to fill the week. All in all I think it was a worthy venture, even if we are children of the 90s, I think we did the 80s justice. So [...]

80s Week: Greatest Mariner’s of the 1980′s

Sean — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 05:25:00 +0000

The 1980 Seattle Mariners are a strange bunch. We don’t really know much about them, besides cool ones. Alvin Davis, Harold Reynolds, etc. Even Mark Langston seems like a bit of a stretch for people of our generation. We had no emotional connection to these players. They never won anything, they seldom did anything worth [...]

Shocktober: Introduction

John — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 00:40:00 +0000

I hate to cut into 80s Weeks but I can’t turn back time. Yes it’s officially October 1st and that means it’s “Shocktober.” “What the hell is Shocktober?” You might say. Well that means that for every day of October I will be reviewing a notable Horror flick. Now I already did this once on [...]

Shocktober: Day 1

John — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 00:40:00 +0000

Frankenstein (1910) Dir: J. Searle DawleyCast: Augustus Phillips, Charles Ogle, Mary FullerThe year is 1910; a loaf of bread costs five cents, Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to ride a plane, Mother Teresa is born, and Edison Studios releases Frankenstein, one of the first horror films ever made. You could possibly categorize some of [...]

80s Week: Sean’s Lists

Sean — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 07:00:00 +0000

There are lots of things that I like from the Eighties. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, G.I. Joe and a number of great cartoons that still managed to influence me in my formative years wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the 1980s. It was the peak time for video game arcades, something I wish [...]

80s Week: John’s Lists

John — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:35:00 +0000

Looks like were going to have a busy couple of weeks. In addition to “80s Week”, I imagine we’ll have some movie reviews next week, maybe a review of the latest installment of Ken Burn’s Baseball and I will of course begin my “Shocktober” feature, where I’ll review 31 movies in 31 days. Though until [...]

80s Week: C.A.T: Slippery When Wet

John — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:57:00 +0000

Bon Jovi – Sippery When Wet (1986) Timeline222, 000 – 250,00 Years Ago – Man Walks the Earth 1492 – Columbus Discovers America 1776 – The Declaration of Independence 1984 – “Where’s the Beef?” Commercials air. 1986 – “Slippery When Wet” is released. Prepare to transport yourself back to a 1980s strip club, kick back [...]

80s Week: Colin’s Lists

Colin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:31:00 +0000

I urge anyone to do whatever kinds lists they feel like doing, these are just the ones that I felt capable of doing. As far as ’80s TV, really the only show I’ve seen a whole lot of is “Cheers”, so I decided to go with my favorite music videos. So without further ado, here [...]

Welcome To 80s Week

Colin — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 22:14:00 +0000

Well another Fall season is upon us and you know what that means, it’s time for another themed week here at Da Morgue. So for the next week we’ll be taking a look at the decade that gave us Reaganomics, acid washed jeans, “Where’s The Beef?”, and of course that lovable Alf. I know Da [...]

The Shadow Broke Her

Sean — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker After playing through the disappointing Witch Hunt DLC for Dragon Age, I turned my attention to Bioware’s other “reconnect with your lost love” DLC, a little story called The Lair of the Shadow Broker for a certain Mass Effect 2. Offering a chance to reconnect with my [...]

All Mines

Sean — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 03:54:00 +0000

Menomena – Mines Portland’s own Menomena have an interesting approach to making music. Instead of writing a whole song, the band’s three members record loops and then pile it all together, letting each man put his stamp each song. This means everyone has a shot at playing a variety of instruments and singing. This unique [...]

C.A.T.: There’s Nothing Wrong With Love

Colin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:04:00 +0000

Built To Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (1994) From what I’ve been told, next week we’ll be taking a break from these chronological CAT’s with something ’80s related, since I guess we’ll be doing ’80s week starting Sunday. Anyways, I would say 1994 is probably the best year of the ’90s as far [...]

Increasingly Clever

John — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:23:00 +0000

Recently moving into my dorm and with not much room for my TV, I’ve been relying on Netflix lately, but while watching Arrested Development I decided to look up David Cross on wiki and found out he’s got a new sitcom coming to IFC. I’d never heard of it, but that’s probably because I don’t [...]

Reach Out and End Somebody

Sean — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:59:00 +0000

Halo: Reach Over the past decade, Bungie made a name for itself with the Halo franchise. With the first game, it gave the Xbox credibility and brought about the shift in first person shooters away from the PC to consoles. Halo 2 basically popularized console online play as we know it. 2007′s Halo 3 gave [...]

Da Podcasket Episode 04

Sean — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 03:08:00 +0000

After a deconstructive summer, Da Podcasket makes its surprising return with a special guest! Kevin Lemme, of kevinlemme.com, joins da gang for an exciting discussion of new Da Morgue videos, the fall TV season and more. Visit our Vimeo page at vimeo.com/damorguedotorg and don’t forget about our YouTube account at youtube.com/morguedotorg. I know it’s tough. [...]

The Balcony is Open

John — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:42:00 +0000

In a cheap effort to up our post count I thought I’d post something I found mildly interesting. Announced about a week ago (at least that’s when I heard about) At the Movies, the classic review program that once featured Siskel and Ebert is returning once again to television. Airing on PBS this January the [...]

The City That Falls Asleep

John — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:22:00 +0000

Brandon Flowers – Flamingo There seems to be something out for Killer’s fans every year. Whether it’s compilation albums, or live albums, or a solo album, there’s always something, but I have to keep reminding myself “This is not The Killers” it’s just Brandon Flowers and maybe that’s why the magic is missing. Brandon is [...]

C.A.T: In Utero

John — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 03:45:00 +0000

Nirvana – In Utero (1993) I so did not want to do this Classic Album Tuesday post but I couldn’t let our chronological streak die. I didn’t even do this on tuesday, how lame is that? Anyways I love this album, how can you live anywhere near Seattle and not like Nirvana? When they could [...]

Lost Memories

John — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:14:00 +0000

Weezer – Hurley It’s almost gotten annoying how much Weezer exposure there is these days. Three albums in three years, constant appearances, and touring? Give me a break man. This most recent release is Weezer’s first on indie label Epitaph Records, does that mean a return to their indie roots? No, this might even be [...]

R.I.P Kevin McCarthy

John — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:52:00 +0000

Kevin McCarthy1915-2010I was deeply saddened to hear today that film/television actor and Seattle native Kevin McCarthy died recently, so I had to write a brief memorial. Known to most audiences as the engaging star of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers Kevin McCarthy had a long varied career in dramas, comedies and horror flicks. [...]

Nothing To Riot Home About

Colin — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 18:43:00 +0000

Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard Ra Ra Riot put out a pretty enjoyable little debut with The Rhumb Line a few years back. They kind of came off to most people as more string-y version of Vampire Weekend, which was certainly a valid comparison considering these guys are friends with Vampire Weekend. But unlike [...]

Little Drummer Boys

John — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 02:46:00 +0000

The Drums – The Drums I was awaiting the release of this album a long while before it actually came out but then it when it finally did I must of forgotten about it or suffered some amnesia or something. Cut to about a month ago when I heard it surprisingly enough in my brother’s [...]

C.A.T.: Slanted and Enchanted

Colin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted (1992) Now that these CAT’s have made their way into the ’90s, I figured I’d have to do a Pavement album at some point, so I’m just gonna get it out of the way with their debut Slanted and Enchanted. You’d probably be hard-pressed to find a more important indie [...]

Knife to See You

John — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:13:00 +0000

Machete . Oh what shlocky fun it was to see Rodriguez and Tarantino’s Grindhouse several years ago. The fake trailers were hilarious and Machete was easily my favorite, so you could imagine my excitement when I heard Machete was making it’s way to the silver screen. Though was there really enough there to make an [...]

Bumbershoot Revisited

John — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:22:00 +0000

(I tried to find as many pics from the event as possible but aside from the main stage it was slim pickings.) 2010 is apparently a year of firsts as this was my first year attending Seattle’s Bumbershoot Music Festival and the 40th Anniversary at that. Accompanied by Nancy, their was a big draw this [...]

Apple’s Latest Event

Sean — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:39:00 +0000

Apple had their first live streaming event this morning, and they took that opportunity to show off some interesting new products. While it’s all pretty much what everyone expected, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s the iPod Nano over there. It’s square now, having become entirely touchscreen. Sure looks neat. Besides that, there’s a [...]

C.A.T.: Loveless

Colin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:40:00 +0000

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991) I’ll try to be brief with this CAT since it’s an album that has a pretty ridiculously prestigious reputation anyway, and because I’m pretty tired from flying back to SF and moving in and all that nonsense. In most indie circles, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless is basically treated like [...]

The Explodables

John — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:44:00 +0000

The Expendables Stallone, Statham, Li? Together with some of the brawniest macho men of the 80s and 90s? Sounds like a rip roaring, ass whooping fest, ready to pump some testosterone into a veiny bicep… But can there really be too much of a good thing? Absolutely, and in this case it’s become a bad [...]

My Girl Wants to Piranha All the Time

Sean — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:03:00 +0000

Piranha 3D From the director of The Hills Have Eyes remake and the writers of Sorority Row comes Piranha 3D, a sequel to a largely forgotten late-70s franchise. Not that the series has any sort of continuity to it. In fact, for all I know this isn’t even supposed to be the third in the [...]

C.A.T: The La’s

John — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:20:00 +0000

The La’s – The La’s (1990) Everybody knows the catchy 90s hit “There She Goes” but how many folks have ever heard of The La’s? Though they fell of the radar after the release of their one and only album The La’s are today heralded as one of the first important bands of the 90s [...]

Imagineer That!

John — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Brian Wilson – Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin Pop Genuis Brian Wilson is back with this tribute to one of his greatest influences the legendary George Gershwin. Stepping into the studio with his polished backing band, WIlson covers 12 Gershwin classics along with two completions of unfinished Gershwin numbers. Beautifully produced this isn’t as exciting as [...]

F-F-F-F-F-Fuckin’ Awesome

Sean — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:19:00 +0000

I’m not gonna beat around the bush here; this is another Rock Band post. This is probably the most important one yet. That’s because the Rock Band 3 set list has been leaked. Stop. Don’t look it up on Wikipedia. There’s something you need to know first. “In a Big Country” is in the game. [...]

Those Crafty Stars

Sean — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:24:00 +0000

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty It’s been 12 years since the original StarCraft came out. Seven years since development of this sequel came out. Three years since the game was officially announced. Two years since we learned StarCraft II would be split into three releases. A year since the game’s beta began. And 24 days since StarCraft [...]

C.A.T.: The Stone Roses

Colin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 06:32:00 +0000

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989) Our long trip through the eighties finally comes to an end with an album that definitely pointed the way for the direction rock music would head towards into the ’90s, or at least British rock music. I mean this album is so highly regarded in British music [...]

New York City Cops, They Ain’t Too Smart

Colin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:31:00 +0000

The Other Guys When Will Ferrell teams up with director Adam McKay, hilarity usually tends to ensue. Even with their last effort, the somewhat overly dumbed-down Step Brothers, these two know how to make people laugh. The duo’s newest film, The Other Guys, which is not very new at all at this point definitely delivers [...]

Great Scott!

John — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:14:00 +0000

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz if you were to ask me Brit filmmaker Edgar Wright has already solidified himself as one of the edgiest and most inventive comedy directors working today. Jam packed films of eye popping visuals, endless jokes (both clever and well “broad”) and homages and [...]

The Force is with Blu in 2011

Sean — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:59:00 +0000

Apparently some Star Wars event called Celebration V is going on right now, and George Lucas just made an appearance. What did he have to say? That the hexalogy would finally be coming to Blu Ray next year. Lucas promised the series would appear in the highest visual and audio quality, but didn’t mention if this [...]

C.A.T: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

John — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:33:00 +0000

The Traveling WIlburys – Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988)Who would of imagined that a friendly get together between a group of rock music legends would lead to one of the most memorable supergroups of it’s time? What began as a friendly session to record a b-side for a George Harrison single would only grow into [...]

I Am Out to Do Crime

Sean — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Transformers: War for Cybertron It’s no secret that I’m a fan of giant robots. Transformers is a big reason why I’m like that. The franchise has always seemed remarkably counter-intuitive when given any back story beyond the toys, but, damnit, Optimus Prime is a Hell of a guy. It’s a shame he’s not American, or [...]

Rockin’ The Suburbs

Colin — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:02:00 +0000

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs When Arcade Fire’s last album, Neon Bible came out I didn’t really care. I knew they weren’t gonna be able to top Funeral, so I don’t think I ended up giving Neon Bible the chance it deserved until earlier this year. My anticipation towards The Suburbs was a little more [...]

Best In Show

Colin — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 04:31:00 +0000

Best Coast – Crazy For You I didn’t want this to be the first one post week ever, so I guess I’ll take a look at some of the tunes I’ve been listening to lately. The first is a charming little debut from L.A. trio Best Coast. Basically I’m a sucker for albums like this, [...]

C.A.T.: Paid In Full

Colin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:55:00 +0000

Eric B. & Rakim – Paid In Full (1987) I was tempted to do another underground alternative album from the ’80s, but the late ’80s are pretty much the only era of hip-hop that I really care about, so I figured I’d take a look at an album that’s nothing short of a golden age [...]

Buffalo Jackson Style

John — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:25:00 +0000

Some useful instructional videos the DaMorgue crew made during spring break ’10. I’ll leave Sean up to properly formatting this on our new blog layout and remember to never keep up your dreams! Here’s Basketball! And I hope you’re ready for some football!

C.A.T: Licensed to Ill

John — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:42:00 +0000

Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill (1986)Aside from a lone Tone Loc album and maybe some Sugarland Gang, Hip-Hop was a little lonely in my music library, that was until I finally became a fan of Brooklyn’s finest. Maybe it’s because they proved that even white boys can be funky? Whatever the reason were going [...]

Gay Warden

Sean — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening Dragon Age: Origins went from being a PC title I feared playing to one of my favorite games of 2009. The old-school, yet modernized combat made the game a lot of fun, and the deep story and compelling cast all came together to make an incredible package. And with hundreds [...]

The Line Between Victory and Defeat is Thin

Sean — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:21:00 +0000

Split/Second It seems like there are three main kinds of racing games. There are the simulation racers, which are all about realistic driving and jaw-dropping graphics. I’m not that big on those. There are kart racers, fun party games that are all about wacky hijinks. And then there are the arcade racers. Games, like Burnout, [...]

Meet The Avengers

Sean — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:47:00 +0000

In the biggest bombshell out of Comi-Con that I’ve read about yet, the cast of 2012′s Avengers was announced and showed up tonight. Brought on stage by Robert Downey, Jr. himself, Joss Whedon’s dream team is as follows: Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man Mark Ruffalo as Hulk Chris Evans as [...]

C.A.T.: Psychocandy

Colin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:38:00 +0000

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985) I’m not sure if we’re gonna be able to keep this chronological CAT thing going for that much longer. But I’ve pretty much been listening to nothing but ’80s music all summer, so I figured I should keep it going. This week I’ll take a look at [...]

It’s All in Your Head

Sean — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:41:00 +0000

Inception Christopher Nolan started work on Inception a decade ago. Allegedly, after his initial pitch, Nolan decided he had to do some other big pictures first. So he took a few warm up rounds. That resulted in Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. Not too shabby. Content with being the money-making king of the post-Titanic, [...]

The Last Airboner

Sean — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:15:00 +0000

The Last Airbender Transformers. Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Dragonball Evolution. It seems like every year I have to come see a big screen adaptation of a beloved franchise that destroys everything I believe in. How is it that so many people can poor so much talent and money into good source material and come [...]

Smoaked!

Sean — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:58:00 +0000

Justin Smoak hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire since coming to the Mariners. He was just 1-12 going into today’s game. Now we all know that we have to be patient. But it’s hard isn’t it? We just traded the greatest pitcher ever! But this is what we have to watch, and this [...]

Welcome to the Jungle

John — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:43:00 +0000

PredatorsAfter a long 23 years the 1987 classic Predator finally has a sequel worthy of it’s name. “Predators“, clearly a nod to Aliens has been an idea brewing in the mind of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez since the 90s and now he’s finally got the power to bring it to the screen. Taking a backseat as [...]

Barefoot Bandit Busted

John — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:40:00 +0000

I couldn’t’ believe it when news broke this morning that the “Barefoot Bandit” had finally been nabbed. A modern day folk hero much in the vein of Frank Abignale (famous counterfeiter/fugitive in the 60s) or D.B. Cooper (only successful plain hijacker in history) yes Colton Harris-Moore was a criminal but there’s something about his story [...]

AJ the Movie

John — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:00:00 +0000

CyrusWhy it was just earlier this year that I became a fan of the Duplass brothers. Key players in the Mumblecore scene, a kind of film genre involving zero budgets, non-professional actors and improvised scripts. I was impressed with what Jay and Mark Duplass accomplished with so little in their films The Puffy Chair and [...]

C.A.T.: Let It Be

Colin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 06:25:00 +0000

The Replacements – Let It Be (1984) The year was 1984, and although the world wasn’t quite the dystopian society George Orwell had predicted, the pop charts were ruled with an iron fist by mostly bland synth-pop. Fortunately, bands like Husker Du and Minutemen were fighting this totalitarian lameness by turning their brand of hardcore [...]

Louie, Louie

John — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:20:00 +0000

Yesterday I finally managed to catch Louis C.K’s new series on FX (It premiered last Tuesday) and I have to say this is not your typical sitcom. Rather than being a conventional program that follows a straightforward narrative Louie is more like a collection of short film’s blended together with a stand up comedy routine. [...]

Now Who’s the Fortunate Son?

Sean — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 10:06:00 +0000

Hey, interesting Rock Band DLC. I missed you. If you don’t remember, when the first Rock Band came out, one of the earliest DLC songs was a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son.” That’s right, a cover. That was a different time indeed. Now, two years and hundreds of songs later, CCR is back [...]

Guitars And Generals

Colin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:03:00 +0000

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor As much as I love the new album by The National, it’s not really a suitable “summer album”, it’s more of something you listen to during the autumn and winter months. So instead the album that’s been my go-to album for the summer so far has been Titus Andronicus’s ragged [...]

Resentment Album Review

Sean — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:04:00 +0000

Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock RecordI’d heard the name Broken Social Scene one or two times before, but the first time I actually heard their music was lying on a hill in George, WA at the Sasquatch Music Festival. So my impression of this band – er collective – might be a little skewed. [...]

2010: The Year of Swim

Sean — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:40:00 +0000

Caribou – SwimWhat kind of music do you like? This is a question that is growing increasingly difficult for me to answer. Unless I ask iTunes Genius, which tells me all I need to do is listen to “Weekend Wars” and “Rebellion (Lies)” over and over until I don’t like music anymore. Have I used [...]

In This Post, iPhone It In

Sean — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:16:00 +0000

Early adoption is fun. Sure, there are plenty of negatives and risks that come with being an early adopter, chiefly long lines, terrible hours, and generally products at their most expensive. But you get a fancy new gadget before everyone else has one. When it is a big deal to have one. When the future [...]

C.A.T: War

John — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:15:00 +0000

U2 – War (1983)U2 already had a “Classic Album Tuesday” but you know what? Screw it. I already reviewed one of my favorite albums from 1983 many months ago, so today is another dosage of Ireland’s favorite sons. Still continuing the year-by-year countdown we come to 1983, marking the release of my favorite U2 album. [...]

Toys Will Be Toys

Colin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:31:00 +0000

Toy Story 3 It’s needless to say that this third installment of the Toy Story series had its work cut out for it, seeing as the first two films were fantastic. But you can always count on Pixar to deliver that high standard of excellence, as Toy Story 3 is every bit as good as [...]

C.A.T.: 1999

Colin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 06:05:00 +0000

Prince – 1999 (1982) For the sake of keeping our chronological CAT streak going I figured I’d take a look at Prince’s 1982 release despite the fact that I already this CAT a while back. But that album’s not really a classic, while 1999 most certainly is, as well as the album that truly broke [...]

Yay Team

Sean — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:07:00 +0000

The A-TeamWe expect a different kind of movie in the summer. We spend the rest of the year looking for bleak dramas wrought in angst and tears, in the summer we look for pictures featuring comedy, action or both. Last year, there wasn’t much in that department, a summer marked with crap like X-Men Origins: [...]

It’s All Greek to Me

John — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:06:00 +0000

Get Him to the GreekWe’ve mostly been playing catch up here at the blog ever since summer cast it’s mighty sun. It’s hard to get motivated so don’t be surprised to see a handful of late or even relatively uninspired posts. It’s hard to stay focused with so much free time I suppose. So here’s [...]

T3: Best of Dennis Hopper

John — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:26:00 +0000

I’d been planning a Dennis Hopper “Best of” film memoriam ever since I heard he was sick but unfortunately this post is happening much later then I would of liked. This list being my personal picks of Dennis Hopper’s best roles. Naturally I can only see so much in so little time but I think [...]

C.A.T: Tattoo You

John — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:18:00 +0000

The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (1981)There’s a lot of hip, influential albums I could’ve picked for 1981 but instead I’ll go with the 1981 smash hit Tattoo You by everyone’s favorite group of rowdy senior citizens. Strangely enough I think this is the first time we’ve done a “Classic Album Tuesday” for the Stones, [...]

Use Your Interface

Sean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:40:00 +0000

In the earliest days, when people thought of computers they thought of massive room-filling machines capable of some fundamental logic-based computation. As time went on, that image shrank down to the classic screen and keyboard setup. Apple revolutionized that by designing the world’s first Graphical User Interface (GUI) and creating a companion for the keyboard: [...]

SIFF Part 3: Little Big Soldier

John — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 08:16:00 +0000

The final chapter of our Seattle Film Festival shenanigans ends with the chinese buddy picture known as Little Big Soldier starring Jackie Chan. The only foreign language film we saw, which we were obviously drawn to because of the Chan man. Known as the Buster Keaton of Kung Fu cinema, Jackie completely delivers with plenty [...]

Billy Don’t Be a Hero

John — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Blockade Billy by Stephen KingThere’s not enough book reviews on this blog though who has the time right? I don’t want people to think I don’t read I just never feel the need to review any of it, because it’s never anything recent. This came out last April coinciding with baseball opening day and being [...]

C.A.T: Back in Black

Sean — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:15:00 +0000

AC/DC – Back in Black (1980)When you think of AC/DC, chances are you’re probably thinking of a track off of Back in Black. From the epic “Hells Bells” to Iron Man favorites “Shoot to Thrill” and the eponymous “Back in Black,” each and every track on this legendary album lives today in infamy. AC/DC had [...]

SIFF Part 2: Leaves of Grass

John — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:52:00 +0000

For today we have a play-by-play breakdown of day two of Da Morgue’s Seattle Film Festival Exploits. On our plate this fine afternoon was Tim Blake Nelson’s dark comedy Leaves of Grass starring Edward Norton. One of the few films I’d heard of before the festival this was one I was so excited about I [...]

SIFF Part 1: Ondine

John — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:52:00 +0000

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to check out the Seattle International Film Festival. I mean every year from late May to early June there are literally hundreds of independent film’s playing just a few minutes away. So finally Colin and I took in our first SIFF film yesterday and plan to [...]

Grand Theft Horse

Sean — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:44:00 +0000

Red Dead RedemptionI like Westerns. There are very few video games that have capitalized on that. Perhaps that is because historically accurate depictions of that era in U.S. history don’t exactly sound fun – lots of racism, hard work, and shitty weapons that are more likely to blow your hand off than your enemy away. [...]

Thank You

Sean — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:48:00 +0000

Here’s the obligatory Griffey post. Enjoy! So here we are, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Wednesday was a very emotional day for me. I was preparing for our CO-ED softball championship when I first heard the news. It did not surprise me. My initial reaction was “finally.” Then we played softball, lost, and [...]

C.A.T.: Reggatta de Blanc

Colin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:43:00 +0000

The Police – Reggatta de Blanc (1979) I can’t really say for certain, but this might be my favorite album by the The Police. I guess it’s hard to decide when really all of The Police’s albums are pretty solid but for me none of them really stands above the rest as their definitive work. [...]

R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

John — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:49:00 +0000

Dennis Hopper1936-2010 I don’t mean to return to this blog on a sad note after a little Da Morgue vacation (went to Sasquatch Music Festival, there will be a podcast on it soon.) but with the passing of such a legendary performer I had to write some kind of tribute. For the most part this [...]

Rock Band 3 to Support Keytar?

Sean — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:37:00 +0000

That image above pops up at the end of the Green Day: Rock Band demo. Look at that, it’s the four ways of playing Rock Band we’re all pretty familiar with. Oh, and what’s that? Keyboards, right? That’s exciting. Not sure how that’s going to work, but everyone’s been saying that Rock Band 3 will [...]

C.A.T: This Year’s Model

John — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:43:00 +0000

Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model (1978)Continuing the trend of doing albums by year (that for whatever reason started in 1976), I bring you Brit Power Pop pioneer Elvis Costello’s 1978 classic This Year’s Model. His sophomore release and debut with backup band The Attractions, This Year’s Model would only further cement Elvis as the [...]

Da Podcasket Episode 03

Sean — Tue, 25 May 2010 09:59:00 +0000

They’re back again, complaining about the same ol’ crap they usually do. Take the Mariners, for example. Do you imagine the gang are happy about their team’s performance lately? Then maybe you are a fool. Sean also talks about Lost and 24, but no one cares. Then, in a shocking twist, video games are actually [...]

Blues Brothers

John — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:41:00 +0000

The Black Keys – BrothersMy interest in Blues Rock duo The Black Keys is fairly new. Like many I assume, I became intrigued after hearing their 2006 single “Your Touch” in TV and movies like Eastbound and Down and Zombieland. I’ll admit I was hesitant about devoting my time to yet another bare bones guitar/drum [...]

The Island Works in Mysterious Ways

Sean — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:03:00 +0000

And that’s it. Lost‘s finale has aired and the saga of the survivors, others and every one else is complete. Of course the show went out big. The episode was two and a half hours long. It put the fate of the island and everyone that was ever touched by it on the line. But [...]

Damnit Jim Reynolds!

Sean — Sun, 23 May 2010 05:54:00 +0000

This will probably be covered somewhere else tonight, but this really stuck out to me. I’m not really sure where I stand on the whole umpire vs. robots argument, but after tonight I can say the robots are making quite a compelling case. With a runner on 1st and 3rd, one out, down by a [...]

2009-10 TV Wrap Up: Everything But Lost Edition

Sean — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:48:00 +0000

Most of the shows I care about have finished their seasons by now, and since the Lost series finale probably warrants its own post, I thought I’d take a look back at all the other shows that I was watching over the past season. Spoilers will probably be dropped. Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7Curb already [...]

Shameless Self Promotion

Sean — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:37:00 +0000

I went on “The Sports Den” on 88.1 The ‘Burg FM this morning to talk some Mariners baseball. Topics ranged from Griffey, the offense, the value of sacrifice bunting, and much more. Since the radio station doesn’t podcast their own stuff, I recorded it on my computer using Garageband. Not the best quality but gets [...]

I Feel Happy!

Sean — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Here’s a funny dialogue thanks to Craig Calcaterra at Hard Ball Times. I love his daily recaps of the previous days box scores. Here’s what he got from an inside source: Bench Coach: Need to pinch hit. Send up Tuiasosopo.Hitting Coach: What about Griffey?Bench Coach: Ah, he’s a freakin’ corpse.Griffey: I’m not dead.Bench Coach:What?Griffey: I’m [...]

Go to Google

Sean — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:22:00 +0000

Today is the 30th Anniversary of gaming classic Pac-Man. Google has a tradition of changing its logo in honor of notable dates, but today they raised the bar. Their logo has become a playable version of the game, complete with classic sound effects and even two player. Check it out. Today is also the 30th [...]

T3: Greatest Giants

Colin — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:42:00 +0000

As I get ready to leave San Francisco for the summer I figured I’d take a look at the rich history of the city’s beloved ball club, The San Francisco Giants. Now I’m no expert on the team or anything, but in my brief time as a Giants fan I think I already have a [...]

Lethal Whitford

John — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

For whatever reason I tuned into the premiere of Fox’s latest action/comedy The Good Guys earlier tonight and figured I’d give you my initial reaction. From the creator of Burn Notice a show that I’ve never really had any interest in comes The Good Guys a supposed comedic throwback to the buddy cop genre. Colin [...]

C.A.T.: Marquee Moon

Colin — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:22:00 +0000

Television – Marquee Moon (1977) Since John took it upon himself to resurrect Classic Album Tuesdays, I figured I’d join in on welcoming back the CAT This week I’ll take a look at an album that I’m surprised I never mentioned on the blog before, considering it’s always been one of my all-time favorites ever [...]

Da Podcasket Episode 02

Sean — Sun, 16 May 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Da second official episode of da Podcasket is twice as good as the first. Once again the guys delve into Mariners baseball, video games, music, the Internet and everything in between. Watch the first McTrigger film, Rock Paper Justice, for many good times. The sequel, Cold Steel, is also on YouTube, but the video on [...]

It’s Just Not the Same

Sean — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:24:00 +0000

Here’s your Green Day: Rock Band opening cinematic. As I’m sure you remember, one of the best parts of The Beatles: Rock Band was the insane, I’m going to call it a short film, that started things off. I find it so depressing that that game didn’t sell better and that Green Day: Rock Band [...]

Da Podcasket Iron Man 2 Special

Sean — Sat, 15 May 2010 08:49:00 +0000

After what must have felt like a lifetime da morticians are finally ready to discuss Iron Man 2. What will the guys have to say? Is this the blockbuster we’ve all been waiting for or a real train wreck? Pretend you haven’t already read the review or seen it. It’s more fun that way. Get [...]

One last thing before bed

Matt — Sat, 15 May 2010 08:01:00 +0000

I thought you’d all enjoy this. Rojo Johnson, an ex-con from Venezuela, making his debut for Round Rock.

What I Would do

Matt — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:03:00 +0000

Not a very pleasant time in Marinerville. Anyone who watched yesterday’s game is ready to jump off a cliff. If you read USS Mariner this morning, you’re even more depressed. The seasons probably over unless we go on one of those 20 game winning streaks like those pesky A’s did back in the day. This [...]

Sign him up!

Matt — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:03:00 +0000

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle has a nice little tidbit of information for all those fans that are still getting over the tragic “Eric Byrnes” era. Byrnsy is doing just fine and found a everyday job, in a slow pitch softball league. Wednesday night, in the Menlo Park League, Byrnes, the cleanup hitter, [...]

National Treasure

Colin — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:09:00 +0000

The National – High Violet The National’s last two albums were great. So great that both of them probably could have had a chance of making it on to my Top 10 of the decade list, if wasn’t for the fact that I first got into them about a month after the decade ended. Their [...]

Valve Bursts Pipe on Steam for Mac

Sean — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:13:00 +0000

Remember how Steam was coming out for Mac? It happened. Right now, as long as you have a computer and don’t use Linux, you can use Steam. The Steam application runs well, although downloads are a little slow right now, probably because a lot of people are downloading games right now. Thanks to Steam Play, [...]

Langerhans>Griffey

Matt — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:47:00 +0000

I’ve often enjoyed the Game Day screen shots you see around the M’s blogosphere, so here’s my first attempt. First let’s look at Ryan Langerhans’, greatest Mariner of all time, triumphant home run last night. That is one fat sunova bitch fastball. Langerhans is extremely patient. Yes, he is only batting .143, but that is [...]

Heart of Iron

Sean — Wed, 12 May 2010 09:50:00 +0000

Iron Man 2There is a definite pattern to super hero movies. First comes the origin film, the exciting and interesting tale of how an unlikely individual becomes someone greater than they ever thought they could be. Then comes the sequel, which ups the action and forces our hero to face a greater foe than they [...]

C.A.T: Hotel California

John — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Eagles – Hotel California (1976)The Eagles are playing at Key Arena this week and although I’m not going I’ve definitely had them on the brain. I feel like the Eagles don’t get a lot of respect on this blog so I’l go ahead and personally honor them with the first “Classic Album Tuesday” since August. [...]

Da Podcasket Episode 01

Sean — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:14:00 +0000

In this first episode of da Podcasket, da morticians discuss the Mariners, movies, TV shows, video games and more. A real smorgasbord. This is our very first attempt at the whole podcasting thing. We’d really appreciate some feedback on what you guys want to hear discussed in future shows. Download the episode here. Subscribe to [...]

Still Going Steady

Colin — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:50:00 +0000

The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever The Hold Steady have always been one of those bands who have never quite been able to take hold of one huge particular fanbase. They rock just a little too hard and have a little too much fun to appeal to the “sniffling indie kids”, and their approach [...]

T3: Guilty Pleasures Part Deux

John — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:18:00 +0000

I remember back in October when Colin did a post of his musical “Guilty Pleasures”. Artists we like but with arguable artistic credibility. I was inspired to post my picks but it took me awhile to figure out who’d make the cut. Then I forgot, until now so I’ve dusted it off and posted it [...]

To Mock? Or Not to Mock?

John — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:01:00 +0000

This is weird cause my fellow co-bloggers and I were just talking about this topic on skype recently. Joaquin Phoneix the man who “supposedly” quit acting to focus on his “rap career”. What followed was a confusing series of incidents including a now infamous interview on Letterman and Joaquin Phoenix falling off a stage at [...]

Retrospecticus: Jon Favreau

Sean — Thu, 06 May 2010 04:06:00 +0000

OK. I’m not going to be the only one not to do a Retrospecticus. So we’re going to take a short look at the career of director Jon Favreau. Why? Iron Man 2 comes out on Friday. Good enough. Favreau’s not exactly a prolific director, but I certainly enjoy his work. Are you going to [...]

Retrospecticus: The New Pornographers

Matt — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:07:00 +0000

I was working on this and thought it would make Colin shit the bed if I made it three retrospectici (plural?) in a row. My all time favorite alternative super-group is coming out with a new album tomorrow. I’m glad I pre-ordered it on iTunes so that they can bill me when it comes out. [...]

Retrospecticus: The Hold Steady

Colin — Mon, 03 May 2010 07:30:00 +0000

Seems kind of wierd to do two retrospecticuses in a row, but it’s been a while since we’ve had a music retrospective posted on this blog, like over a year. So let’s take a look back at the albums that have thus far been released by The Hold Steady, a band who really haven’t been [...]

Retrospecticus: The Dead Series

John — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:45:00 +0000

For 42 years George A. Romero has scared the bejeezus out of audiences with his army of the undead. From the groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead to his latest indie installment Survival of the Dead, he’s clearly established himself as the premier authority on zombie films. Combining dark humor with gore and underlying political [...]

Tom Clancy’s Something Something

Sean — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:30:00 +0000

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: ConvictionHistorically, I have not been the biggest fan of stealth games. Waiting, pattern memorization, precise timing, none of that ever was that entertaining. Sure, there were exceptions, Metal Gear Solid 2 comes to mind, but I never really got into the Splinter Cell games. I picked the first one up because [...]

T3: Worst Baseball Uniforms

John — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:09:00 +0000

Watching the last Mariners game against Kansas City something caught my eye. Those cheesy powder blue alternate uniforms. Some people are fans of it, I’m not but it got me to thinking about some of the crazy uniforms I’ve seen in photos or archival footage… Visions of those pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates hats of the seventies [...]

This is Only a Test

John — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:22:00 +0000

Being that it’s a typical slow week at DaMorgue I thought I’d share some footage here. So about two weeks ago Paul and I bought a new camera the “XH-A1″ and just recently we finally got the right cord to upload footage. So far it surprisingly uploads easier and takes up less room on our [...]

T3: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

John — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:38:00 +0000

I’ve been putting this off for far too long. Though I’m not sure I’ve seen all the baseball flicks worth seeing. like the original Angels in the Outfield or The Bingo Long Traveling All Stars & Motor Kings. I’ll reckon I’ve seen enough to make this list. Yes this is my “Top 10 favorite Baseball [...]

Halfway To Heaven

Colin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:37:00 +0000

We’re already pretty deep into Spring, and summer vacation is only about a month away, well at least for Sean and I. I figured I’d take a gander at what looks to be some promising music that’ll be coming out between now and then. Most of it’s on the indie side of things, but apparently [...]

The Assman Kicketh

John — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:11:00 +0000

Kick-AssPow! Move over heroes and say hello to Kick-Ass, the most action packed, tongue and cheek, “violentest” super hero flick to hit the block since, well ever. Based off of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s comic of the same name, Kick-Ass is a an over-the-top satire on the genre beloved by fan-boys over. As [...]

Psychedelic Surfs Up

John — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:59:00 +0000

MGMT – CongratulationsDon’t you love that feeling of picking up a new album, cranking it up and immediately falling in love with it? I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from MGMT this time but then again I don’t think anyone was. They’ve made it perfectly clear that all the success that was generated from [...]

New Albums are Boring

Sean — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:41:00 +0000

Los Campesinos – Romance is BoringOh, how the mighty have fallen. After two great albums (or one album and then an extended EP, which I believe is the official story) Los Campesinos came back this January with a new album. That’s right, I’m reviewing another slightly older album that I originally didn’t want to review [...]

Work It Out

Sean — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:23:00 +0000

Shout Out Louds – WorkI have been hesitant to review this album, since as far as I know you guys didn’t like the other two Shout Out Louds albums. But I had been waiting for this new LP for a long time and I’ve recently started listening to it a lot again. So I’m going [...]

Conan Takes Back Showtime

Sean — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:06:00 +0000

By now I’m sure everyone’s heard that Conan O’Brien will be returning to television on TBS this November. As George Lopez’s lead-in. I mean, I would be happier, but did anyone really not expect Conan to be back on TV by the end of the year? He was just supposed to land a pioneering new [...]

Drop a Dookie

Sean — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:53:00 +0000

Continuing me trend of not really following Rock Band enough, I guess the final track list for Green Day: Rock Band is out. As they promised, the six songs from the last album that are already out as Rock Band DLC are playable in this game. What is interesting is that Harmonix has no plans [...]

L.A. Story

Colin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:45:00 +0000

Greenberg One convenient thing about living in the city is that you don’t have to go as far out of your way to find those smaller movies that the general movie-going audience doesn’t really care about. Greenberg, the latest offering from writer-director Noah Baumbach seems to be one of those films. It’s kind of an [...]

Did You Know Jimi Rocked?

Sean — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:01:00 +0000

It was a big deal a couple years ago when Activision locked up Jimi Hendrix for the Guitar Hero games. But that sucked and I guess the Hendrix family agreed, because The Experience’s second album, Axis: Bold as Love, has been available for download in Rock Band since last week. Did you know this? Do [...]

Super Clash Bros.

John — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:49:00 +0000

Clash of the TitansWhy see Clash of the Titans at this point? It got terrible reviews, the 3D version was trashed and it’s a Hollywood remake of a so-so fantasy film? I don’t know, maybe I’m just dumb. I love going to the movies and even though this was panned I still had to see [...]

How to Train Dragons and Influence People

Sean — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:43:00 +0000

How to Train Your DragonWell, I guess I should start this review by saying I had no idea there was a book behind this movie. From what I’ve read on Wikipedia, the plot of the original book has little in common with the film How to Train Your Dragon, so I don’t think that puts [...]

The Vault: Bart’s Nightmare/Prince of Persia

John — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:21:00 +0000

Still fighting to make this a recurring segment someday, maybe it could even be on one of our sidebars? So this means I recently made a visit to “Amazing Heroes” which for those who don’t know is a vintage video game/toy store in Totem Lake. You can just smell the nostalgia and overwhelming nerdiness when [...]

T3: Return of the King… Of Monsters

John — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:35:00 +0000

(This is not related to April Fool’s Day)For anyone who religiously follows IMDb or any kind of movie site you’ve probably heard that Legendary Pictures recently purchased the rights to Godzilla. Working closely with Japanese Producers, a 2012 release date has been set for a new installment. Seeing that the last American Godzilla was so [...]

Da Morgue Dot Org 2.0

Sean — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:12:00 +0000

Well, after a couple weeks of not so much posting. I thought I’d step up and get the ball rolling. And there’s no better way to do that than be redesigning the site. I think this new look is really bold, introducing the festivity we generate wherever we go while maintaining professionalism. I expect to [...]

The Balcony is Closed… Again

Sean — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:55:00 +0000

“RIP At the Movies” beloved critic Roger Ebert tweeted yesterday. For the long-running series has been cancelled, with the last episode to air August 14 this year. You may remember when I posted a similar post a couple years ago, about Roeper and Ebert leaving the show. We thought for sure that was the end [...]

Spring Has Sprung

John — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Figured I’d post with the off chance that we’ll be taking a break for awhile. Spring Break has more less begun, though I’m still finishing some of my last projects. Gonna try and work on a new Morgue episode this break and it looks like Nancy’s already trying to whip the team into shape for [...]

Count Me Out

John — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:02:00 +0000

Christopher Lee – Charlemagne: By the Sword and the CrossHmm, the man behind such legendary villains as Count Dracula, Count Dooku and Saruman singing symphonic metal? Not to mention he’s 87 freaking years old! You have to respect Sir Christopher Lee for still having the energy to keep busy at such a ripe old age [...]

R.I.P. Alex Chilton

Colin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:32:00 +0000

Alex Chilton 1950-2010 I know we’ve already had two RIP’s recently but I figured it’d be a crime not to pay homage to Alex Chilton, the leader of Big Star, one of my favorite bands of the ’70s and probably of all time. Chilton died from a heart attack earlier today, just a few hours [...]

They Say it’s Your Birthday

John — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:34:00 +0000

Happy Birthday – Happy BirthdayI was flipping through the radio recently when I stumbled upon this band on KEXP. A station I rarely listen to, I was surprised and delighted when I heard the infectious melody of a little song called “Girls FM” by Happy Birthday. As it turned out the band’s self-title debut was [...]

It’s Working, It’s Working!

John — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:09:00 +0000

Yes it’s finally here. I’ll keep it brief as I’ve already written enough posts about the complications. Paul and I fixed our big problem (it was only messing up the last sketch) which now should happen again because well… We know how to fix it. So here it is the second episode of “The Morgue” [...]

R.I.P. Peter Graves

John — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:37:00 +0000

Peter Graves1926-2010I just couldn’t let time pass without this blog paying tribute to the late great Peter Graves. Known for such roles as the star of the Mission Impossible TV series, movies including Stalag 17, Night of the Hunter and of course his legendary performance as Captain Clarence Oveur in Airplane. With a career that [...]

Final Fantasy’s New Beginning

Sean — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:28:00 +0000

Owen Pallett – HeartlandI like how Colin does some serious posting so John and I immediately have to push him off the front page. There’s at least one more album worth talking about that I’ve listened to this year, and that’s the latest release from Owen Pallett, a.k.a. Final Fantasy. He decided to use his [...]

Stone Cold Groove

John — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:38:00 +0000

Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of NeptuneWith the amount of posts this week how could I resist reviewing yet another album? We’ve already beat our personal best for posts in a week, so why not extend the record with a look into the latest from a late great rock icon? Valleys of Neptune is the name [...]

The Devil Can’t Write No Love Song

John — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:02:00 +0000

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat the Devil’s TattooMy interest in Black Rebel Motorcycle has been waning since about 2007 and here I’m reminded why. Howl was the album that originally caught my ear with it’s catchy single “Ain’t No Easy Way.” After that was the so-so followup Baby 81 and then the only album [...]

Plastic Bitch

Sean — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:38:00 +0000

Gorillaz – Plastic BeachI’ve been hovering around getting into hip hop for a while now. Colin knows I’ve always appreciated artists like the Beastie Boys and Jay-Z, despite not really knowing their work, and there certainly has been rap elements in the music I enjoy before. So I guess this was some excellent timing on [...]

Danger Shins

Sean — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:18:00 +0000

Broken Bells – Broken BellsWhen I first heard “The High Road” either last year or earlier this year, I was totally hooked on the Broken Bells. But even if I hadn’t heard that single, I’m sure I would have been intrigued by this collaboration between James Mercer of the Shins and producer-extraordinaire Danger Mouse. Now [...]

A Quartet of One

Sean — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Four Tet – There is Love in YouEveryone else doing album reviews makes me feel bad about not talking about some of the albums I’ve been listening to lately. Two albums I’m going to talk about actually just came out this week, but this first one, from British artist Kieran Hebden came out way back [...]

OK Go Just Okay

John — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:21:00 +0000

OK Go – Of the Blue Colour of the SkyThis album came out a few months ago but it took me awhile to finally sit down and give it a listen. So everybody’s favorite viral video masters OK Go are back with album number three. Being only a casual fan I didn’t have any real [...]

Dream Team

Colin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:27:00 +0000

Beach House – Teen Dream I’ve been listening to this third album by Baltimore duo Beach House for a couple weeks now, and I can already tell that it’s one I’ll be coming back to quite frequently. Coming from the fact that Beach House is a band known for their lush sonic experiments, this album [...]

There Will Be Blood

Colin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:54:00 +0000

Surfer Blood – Astrocoast I figured I’d keep this recent influx of posts going by delving in to a pair of albums that I’ve been listening to recently. The first is a nifty little debut entitled Astrocoast from Florida-based band, Surfer Blood. What first drew me to this album was the band’s break-out track “Swim”, [...]

PlayStation Wii

Sean — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:11:00 +0000

Sony announced they like to move it move it today at GDC when it unveiled the new motion controller, the PlayStation Move. While it at first looks like a black Wii controller with a lightbulb screwed into the top of it, the device is actually pretty cool. Using the PlayStation Eye, the camera that you [...]

Boneretta

Sean — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:40:00 +0000

BayonettaOne of my favorite PlayStation 2 games was Hideki Kamiya’s Devil May Cry. Kamiya went on to join Clover Studio, the developer responsible for a remarkable barrage of classics (Viewtiful Joe, Okami) in its short life. In the wake of Capcom closing Clover, Kamiya joined some of his fallen comrades in a new company, Platinum [...]

R.I.P. Mark Linkous

John — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:42:00 +0000

Mark Linkous1962-2010I was schocked to read this morning that singer/songwriter Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse had committed suicide by gunshot. For those who don’t know Sparklehorse, it was more or less solely Mark Linkous with a revolving door of collaborators. I wasn’t a huge Sparklehorse fan but I loved his 2006 album Dreamt for Light Years [...]

Macs Get a Little More Steamy in April

Sean — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:25:00 +0000

Valve announced today that Steam, their digital distribution platform, and the Source engine will be ported over to Mac OS in April. They also announced a new feature called Steam Play which allows Mac users who purchased a game on PC to play on their Mac for free and vice versa. This means games like [...]

Alice in Wonderbland

John — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:40:00 +0000

Alice in WonderlandI’ll finish off this weekend with my feelings about the latest from Tim Burton. It seems to me that some film fanatics fearlessly stick by their directors or “autuers” as if they can do no wrong. I’ve seen all of Burton’s films, though I’ll be the first one to tell you if one [...]

Puttin’ the Hurt On

John — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:24:00 +0000

Usually I write a huge, bloated review of the Oscar ceremony but I surprisingly don’t have much to say this time round. You can tell it was an uneventful Oscar night when the biggest surprise was in the adapted screenplay category. Feel bad for Up in the Air getting shutout by the way. Aside from [...]

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

John — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:08:00 +0000

Just gotta apologize again for the lateness of the latest Morgue video. Paul and I’ve literally spent all weekend exporting and re-exporting but we always encounter a new problem. Paul tells me that it has something to do with the type of footage and software of our current camera (damn that thing) and that we [...]

Gettin’ Closer

John — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:13:00 +0000

I told Colin the new Morgue episode would be out today but I’m afraid it’s gonna be at least another day… That is assuming that Paul doesn’t make plans with his friends or something. Still editing out one minute of extra footage and a segment where the audio is messed up. This is getting painful [...]

MLB 10 The Show Review Part 1: Franchise Mode

Matt — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:47:00 +0000

MLB 10 The Show Franchise Mode After playing for about 4 hours last night I decided to do this review as a series by game modes. That would be one long ass review if I just reviewed the whole game. Since Franchise mode is just basically playing single games that is what this segment will [...]

The Greatest Mariner of All Time

Matt — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:50:00 +0000

ApocalyPS3

Sean — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:42:00 +0000

Just a warning to all PlayStation 3 readers that for whatever reason only read this blog. Probably just Nancy. There’s a weird error that seems to mainly just affect non-slim PS3s that might brick your system. On the day before MLB 10: The Show comes out too. They say you should not turn your system [...]

C-Wall

John — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Just want to wish a happy birthday to Colin aka C-Wall. We’ve kind of run out of ideas for birthday related posts so I’ll just say have a good one and use this venue for a few other brief announcements. So everyone can know the current status of the latest “The Morgue” episode, it’s getting [...]

You Drive Me Crazy

John — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:03:00 +0000

The CraziesOriginally I’d planned to see Cop Out this weekend but was quickly scared off after the reviews came in. Reading Sean’s review I’m glad I went with the general consensus instead of taking a risk. So I opted for the generally better received The Crazies. A remake of one of George A. Romero’s 70s [...]

Crap Out

Sean — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:51:00 +0000

Cop Out I was trying to cheer up a friend by bringing him to a comedy movie earlier today. Plus I hadn’t seen a 2010 movie yet, and seeing as it will be March soon, I wanted to get in there and see something. Sadly, my choice was the Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan vehicle [...]

No Man Is An Island

Colin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:09:00 +0000

Shutter Island After the many delayed release dates of Martin Scorsese’s latest film Shutter Island, I was kind of wary considering most recent films that have been delayed often turn out to be somewhat disappointing. This film kind of plays into that notion in that it’s not one of Scorsese’s great films or anything, but [...]

Retrospecticus: Martin Scorsese

Colin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:22:00 +0000

I was kind of going back and forth on whether it was worth it to commit to such an ambitious post. But with Shutter Island coming out this weekend, I figured I probably won’t get as good a chance to pay tribute to one of my favorite filmmakers and perhaps the world’s greatest living director, [...]

It’s That Time of the Year Again

Sean — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:45:00 +0000

The time of the year that brings people together. Men and women all over the world are smiling at each other and maybe, just maybe, a young love is finally blooming. And what wonderful timing for this holiday! The Olympics are in full swing and for just a little while, the whole planet is locked [...]

Don’t Clap for the Wolfman

John — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 07:20:00 +0000

The WolfmanContains SpoilersThroughout the 30s and 40s Universal was the preeminent distributor of horror movies. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man all classics in their own right. Universal originated a great deal of the genre’s modern conventions and more or less wrote the book on creature features. So when I heard [...]

Mockbusted

John — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:21:00 +0000

Ever walk into a video store browse around and find a movie that appears to be a blatant rip-off of another more popular movie? Some B-movie that attempts to attract attention with a familiar premise and title? Does a little movie called Transmorphers ring a bell? These films are called “Mockbusters.” Which are essentially low [...]

What’s The Buzz All About

Sean — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:22:00 +0000

Anyone out there using Google Buzz? Not me, not yet at least. It’s kind of a hard sell right now. After all, does Buzz really do anything that you can’t already do with Twitter or Facebook? Well, you can use it with your email, I guess. That’s not really that exciting or really something I [...]

Update Shmupdate

John — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:28:00 +0000

Wow no new posts for awhile now. I guess nothing has really been going on but I just can’t stand these post droughts. I would of wrote about the Super Bowl, like I did the past few years but I had to miss it to work. Paul and I are currently editing a new “The [...]

Mass Good

Sean — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:39:00 +0000

Mass Effect 2Bioware is one of my favorite video game developers. The first Mass Effect is a big part of that. That game, though surely flawed, was among my favorites back in 2007. Set in a universe somewhere between Star Trek and Star Wars, Mass Effect delivered an amazing fusion of RPG and third person [...]

The Nomination Situation

John — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:35:00 +0000

I can’t express my excitement whenever the Oscar nominations are announced. It’s another step closer to my favorite annual celebration of cinema and the only award show I care about. In more recent years it’s become a tradition for Colin, Sean and myself to try and see all the films nominated for Best Picture. Which [...]

Can You Do the Contra?

John — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:51:00 +0000

Vampire Weekend – ContraSeems like it’s now or never that I give my take on the latest from Vampire Weekend entitled Contra which was released a few weeks ago. After their smashing debut I figured they’d made the best album they ever would but I guess I had no idea what this group was capable [...]

Phoenixmania!

John — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:22:00 +0000

I was still relatively unfamiliar with Phoenix months ago when Sean asked me if I wanted to go to this show (The show was last Saturday.) I liked a few of their songs but hadn’t dipped too much into any of their albums but something in me said “I bet it will be fun.” Damn [...]

Colin’s Top Ten Movies of 2009

Colin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:54:00 +0000

I think this post should wrap up our sporadic series of lists that have dominated this blog for the last month. Now we can finally get on with 2010. Anyway, I only saw a handful of movies this year that I really embraced, and a lot that were pretty good but didn’t quite blow me [...]

John’s Top Ten Movies of 2009

John — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:21:00 +0000

I didn’t see a lot of really great flicks in 09′ but as usual the tale end of the year brought a few gems. Nothing good enough to add to my “Favorite Film’s of the 2000s” list but it’s all too new in my mind. One thing I do know is I’ll definitely be prepared [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Movies of 2009

Sean — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:21:00 +0000

At this point we’re really late, as 2009 has become a distant memory. I’ve been engaging Colin in a face-off over who should begin our final top tens of last year, but all signs point to me. So, as I’m sitting here, at work, where I’m supposed to help students with Final Cut, I figured [...]

Transference: More Than Meets the Eye

John — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:08:00 +0000

Spoon – Transference I think we still need to coordinate for when we do our “Best Films of 2009″ I’m ready but until than I’ve got plenty to write about. Were still in the first month of the new year and I’ve already listened to a handful of albums worth discussing. Most notably releases from [...]

The Lovely Boned

John — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:44:00 +0000

The Lovely BonesLet’s go back to some time last summer when trailers for Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones were first revealed. It looked promising with all it’s big budget eye candy and a concept that although strange was unique. I remember folks on the intertube figured this would be a contender for awards season and [...]

Crazy On You

John — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Crazy HeartDon’t mean to interrupt the flow of things but I had to review this at some point. With the Bridgeman’s win at the Golden Globes last night it seems like now is as good a time as ever to do this, so what are we waiting for? I’ve been giving out a lot of [...]

Shouting Whispers

Matt — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:51:00 +0000

After seven months of hard work I am honored to present you with the latest and greatest from The Defenestrators, Shouting Whispers. It’s our seventh studio release and quite possibly the best one yet. Enjoy.

Colin’s Top Ten Movies of the 00′s

Colin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:59:00 +0000

Unlike my albums of the decade list, this was not a list that came easily to me, nor one that I’m all that satisfied with. Sorry it took me so long to finish this, I’ve been spending most of this weekend babysitting high school kids and concentrating on the new “D” album. If you haven’t [...]

John’s Top Ten Movies of the ’00s

John — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:48:00 +0000

So many good flicks so little time, before I jump let me tell you that I’m not very attached to the order I put these in. I mean I think this would be the list no matter what but picking which ones are better? I don’t know man that’s hard, might as well list a [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Movies of the ’00s

Sean — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:54:00 +0000

The 2000s saw two Star Wars prequels, the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, two Matrix sequels, Judd Apatow take over comedy, the rise in comic book super hero movies and a ton of other things that, frankly, I really enjoyed. Narrowing my list of films down to just ten was several magnitudes more difficult [...]

A Person is Born

John — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:56:00 +0000

Just thought I’d let everyone know that the first episode of “The Morgue” has been uploaded to Youtube. There’s one part where it makes this weird noise and the music for the Richard Muscle segment was accidentally misplaced but aside from that it’s all there in glorious HD (Paul will upload a retouched one tomorrow). [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Video Games of 2009

Sean — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 06:54:00 +0000

Ever since 2007 it’s been hard to narrow my list of games down to just ten. 2009 was special because Modern Warfare 2 was so successful that a bunch of publishers moved their games into 2010 just so they could have a chance at profit. However, a number of truly great games still made it [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Video Games of the ’00s

Sean — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0000

So the last decade was pretty good for video games. We didn’t really get that much of a technological leap, we are still looking at pixels after all. Beautiful, high definition pixels. But online gameplay and distribution came to prominence, the Wii was interesting, and the medium as a whole became one of the biggest [...]

New Writing Gig

Matt — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:17:00 +0000

I’m sure this will cause at least a little outrage, but I hope you can be excited for me because I’ve been accepted to be a contributor to Proball NW. I’m on probation now so all my posts have to be approved by the site’s owner, but I’m on track to become a regular author, [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Albums of 2009

Sean — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0000

I get it now. Posting our top tens this way gives last-second additions a shot at listage, since chances are way better for a movie or album to hop onto the year’s list than the decade ones. And, since Nancy can’t do lists for the year, it gives us a nice post-a-day rhythm for a [...]

John’s Top Ten Albums of 2009

John — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:51:00 +0000

Happy new year folks, here it is 2010: the year we make contact, you know like that movie? Anyways I agree with Colin that 2009 was a little underwhelming in the way of truly great albums but there were still some nice tunes here and there. I don’t have a lot to say but enjoy [...]

Colin’s Top Ten Albums of 2009

Colin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:40:00 +0000

Alright. Now phase two of our “albums week” continues with Da Morgue’s favorite albums of the past year. For me, 2009 was kind of mediocre as far as the albums that were released, but the year certainly wasn’t without it’s share of quality music. 10. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest I didn’t get in to this [...]

Nancy’s Top Ten Albums of the 00′s

Matt — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:36:00 +0000

I’d have to say this is probably the most anticipated post of the year. So unlike Sean, I won’t distract you, I’ll just let you see the list the will cause most people to say, “Oh yeah, that’s cool.” Honorable Mention:American Idiot by Green Day (2004)The Execution of All Things by Rilo Kiley (2002)The Crane [...]

Sean’s Top Ten Albums of the ’00s

Sean — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0000

I know, you just wanna see my list right? In fact, you’re just gonna go scan over it, right? Did you do that already? OK, now let’s talk about me. I grew a lot musically in this decade. I went from liking like disco music and shit like that to enjoying alternative rock that is [...]

John’s Top Ten Albums of the 00s

John — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:08:00 +0000

This is some serious shit right here. “Favorite Albums of the Decade?” tough stuff but I think I got it down. So much sweet tuneage, I even wrote an additional review until I realized I had eleven (Louis XIV was originally on my list). Anyhow let’s go forth and gain a little insight into the [...]

Colin’s Top Ten Albums of the 00′s

Colin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Here we go. We’ve finally decided to start our top ten albums of the decade lists, as well as top albums of ’09 as this crazy mixed up decade comes to an end. I’m not sure quite how this is all gonna work out, but I figured we should get through all of these lists [...]

A Merry Christmas to You

Sean — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:59:00 +0000

As everyone settles into a delicious family dinner tonight, whether it be a tasty trip to ham city or a morally upstanding stop at salad town, we here at Da Morgue Dot Org would like to hope you imagine us with you. Eating your food, mocking your inferior Christmas gifts. When you go to sleep [...]

Air America

Colin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:08:00 +0000

Up In The Air Up In The Air is pretty much the kind of film I find myself hoping for each year. It’s a film full of wit, humor, heart, and feels like it totally represents the weird, uncertain state that this country is in right now. Director Jason Reitman made two comedic triumphs with [...]

Dances With Smurfs

John — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:34:00 +0000

Avatar James Cameron’s long awaited 3D sci-fi opus has finally made it to the screen and with all the hype and high expectations, I can gladly tell you that this was completely worth almost a decade of production. I’d been following this one for as long as I can remember, before I even knew what [...]

Nominal Nominations

Sean — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Golden Globe nominations are out. Somehow Curb is not nominated for best comedy TV series and Breaking Bad not best drama series. Here’s the list: Best Picture, Drama Avatar The Hurt Locker Inglorious Basterds Precious Up in the Air Best Picture, Comedy or Musical (500) Days of Summer The Hangover It’s Complicated Julie & Julia [...]

Inviction Notice

Sean — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:12:00 +0000

InvictusWell, Clint Eastwood is back again. This time he’s telling the story of the 1995 South African national rugby team. And, in Eastwood fashion, what we’ve got here is an enjoyable, competent, but incredibly formulaic, movie. At first, Invictus is not quite sure what kind of movie it wants to be. It seems to be [...]

This Tornado Loves You

Sean — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Neko Case – Middle CycloneAt this point, I totally prefer Neko Case’s solo stuff to The New Pornographers. I guess that’s why they’re considered a super group. Anyway, this album skirts the line between indie rock and alternative country, probably a little more on the side of country, which I guess makes it folk? But [...]

Bad Riddance

Sean — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:54:00 +0000

I think the announcement of Green Day: Rock Band is a bad idea for two reasons. One: AC/DC is one of those old school bands that still won’t put their music up for legal download. The Beatles even more so. I can understand that with them, a special approach was probably the only way to [...]

The World’s a Big Place

Sean — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:54:00 +0000

Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There are MountainsRarely does an album hook me in as quickly and profoundly as the independently released Why There are Mountains from Cymbals Eat Guitars. The first song, “And the Hazy Sea” just explodes at you in a manner that would be off-putting if it was just slightly more extreme. [...]

Young Adult Friction

Sean — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:42:00 +0000

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at HeartLook at that album art. That is just not very good at all. Really, nothing to be proud of there. I don’t know who thought that it looked good. It certainly was not me. Because it looks really bad. Like someone [...]

The Boys are Leaving Town

Sean — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Japandroids – Post-NothingI almost saw these guy live a couple weeks ago. Japandroids are a Canadian duo that I’ve been listening to for the better part of the year. As John pointed out, the combination of one guy playing guitar and another guy playing drums might not be the most unique in the world, and [...]

We’re Too Old

Sean — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:18:00 +0000

The Antlers – HospiceOne surprising upside to losing my whole music collection is that it has really illuminated which albums I really liked from this year. As I rebuild my collection, an album like jj n° 2 seems really unnecessary. Sure, it does sample Ghetto Reporter, but that album was a product of the summer [...]

Wish They All Could Be California Girls

Colin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:27:00 +0000

Girls – Album I thought I was pretty much done with new music for the year, but then I happened to stumble upon this San Francisco-based band, Girls. This “Album” came out a couple months ago, but it seems like it’s been ages since I’ve reviewed an album, and this is the first one that’s [...]

Have Your Self a Sunny Little Christmas

John — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:34:00 +0000

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny ChristmasIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has had a fairly strong fifth season. Following a season that had it’s highlights but faltered when going too over the top, I wasn’t sure if this show was running out of steam or just having a few “Off” episodes. Either way [...]

Kill Pope

Sean — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Assassin’s Creed 2I remember the first Assassin’s Creed very well. It came out shortly after Bryce moved out and I reconfigured the room to be awesome for one person. I remember really enjoying the freedom of the gameplay, the grace of Altair as he scaled buildings and chased targets. I loved the story, the combat [...]

My Brother and Me

John — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:57:00 +0000

BrothersI had no intention of seeing this but some friends from work wanted to go see a movie yesterday and I had the final say. After it came down to Brothers and Armored, both movies that had received relatively mixed reviews I chose Brothers due to my fondness for the cast. Walking away I think [...]

On the Road Again

John — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:02:00 +0000

The RoadAnother one of Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed novels takes to the big screen and although the film may not be the critical success that No Country For Old Men was it’s still a film to be reckoned with. Australian director John Hillcoat (The Proposition) takes on this gritty adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, [...]

Put That Burner on High!

Matt — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:19:00 +0000

I haven’t really heard any interesting rumors this off season apart from the M’s possibly going after Rich Harden. And as swell as that was, this latest one really gets me excited:John Paul Morosi of foxsports.com “The Mariners have made progress toward a deal with free agent Chone Figgins and are clear frontrunners to sign [...]

They Twittered All Over the Place

Sean — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:41:00 +0000

I put a little thing that shows Nancy’s and my Twitter tweets in the sidebar. Hopefully this slightly reduces the amount of things you have to check each day, although I hear that the hardcore Tweeters just have separate applications for that anyway. Then again, those people probably also use RSS feeds and won’t even [...]

Present Combat 2

Sean — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:15:00 +0000

Modern Warfare 2The biggest media release of all time. Not the biggest game, the biggest anything. That’s what day one for Modern Warfare 2 was. Bigger than any album, any movie, any Sarah Palin book. Sure, anyone who played Call of Duty 4 probably saw it coming (and there were a lot of us), but [...]

Video Update

John — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:13:00 +0000

Hey gang, I just finished my final video for my Film Foundations class. The class has been running behind schedule lately, so our last video assignment was basically just the simple task of “telling a story that includes music.” Unfortunately I didn’t know that this assignment was due today until monday, so I filmed the [...]

21st Century Fox

Colin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Fantastic Mr. Fox After director Wes Anderson’s last two movies, which weren’t without their charms, but were kind of lacking in the story department, I was almost ready to give up on him. However, Anderson’s latest offering, an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s childrens book Fantastic Mr. Fox, shows Anderson truly exploring new and inventive territory [...]

A Grand Band

John — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Matt & Kim – GrandIn the wake of all the festivities and gorging on turkey, I came across an indie rock album from earlier this year that somehow went under my radar. Hearing about New York duo Matt and Kim strangely enough from Paul, I’ve found a lot to like about this piano and drum [...]

You Get What You Give

Colin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Well it seems we’ve crossed that threshold into the holiday season once again, and I’d just like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. It seems inevitable that the flow of blog posts slows down around the holidays, but I figured I’d try and post something for today. I thought I’d keep the tradition going of [...]

Who Am I?

John — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:33:00 +0000

I always like to make a post after finishing a video project (even though I just end up mentioning it on Facebook) because here I can give a little more background before you watch it. So this was for my Video Foundations class and the topic was “Who Are You?”. Basically a chance to talk [...]

We All Gonna Die!!!

John — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:59:00 +0000

2012I don’t know how many times writer/director Roland Emmerich feels like he needs to destroy the world but if anything is to be said about 2012 it’s probably the most impressive looking disaster movie of all time. I was really expecting this one to suck balls but shockingly I found 2012 to be jam packed [...]

Get Your Chart On

Sean — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:59:00 +0000

I tweeted about this site a little while ago (hey, it just occurred to me that we don’t have Twitter links anywhere on this blog, let me fix that), but there’s this cool website out there now called Flickchart that I think you movie people out there should investigate. Flickchart lets you compare two movies. [...]

11-10-09

Sean — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:25:00 +0000

I’m sure everyone is still recovering from the massive release of Robo Jockeys on Tuesday, but I figured I should probably mention the massive video game release that also happened to hop on what has been dubbed National SLXP Day. So a little bit of history: Two years ago a game called Call of Duty [...]

This is the Ballad of the Robo Jockeys

Sean — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

I’m happy to announce that I’ve gone as far as I’m going to go with Robo Jockeys and that the album is now available at the SLXP website. Read this later, download it now. Robo Jockeys is a first-of-its-kind technopera. It tells a complex story of war and peace, love and hate. It all starts [...]

Postergate

John — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Hey how about a fun post with no particular relevance to anything current? I remember back in September when Sean made a post on his blog of movies with similar posters. When I saw that it triggered my memory back to when I saw this dvd of a Stephen Dorff movie. At first I thought [...]

Man In The Mirror

Colin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:57:00 +0000

This Is It After hearing that they were going to release a film chronicling Michael Jackson’s ill-fated “This Is It” rehearsals, I was a little skeptical about the intentions of such a release. At the surface it seems that This Is It could’ve been seen as essentially a shameless way of cashing in on the [...]

I’ll T.C. the Review

Sean — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:54:00 +0000

BorderlandsIf there’s one thing that keeps people coming back to games, it’s loot. We’ve know that since Diablo, and we see it every day as people grind away in World of Warcraft or Monster Hunter. But that kind of RPG gameplay has never really successfully been melded with FPS action, since percentages and skill trees [...]

Set Phrazes to Stun

John — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the YoungHow long must we wait for a new Strokes album? One was supposedly in the works earlier this year when all of a sudden things came to a halt. One rumor was that it was because Albert Hammond Jr. went to rehab but that was never clearly verified. Hopefully [...]

The Backwards Man

John — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:51:00 +0000

Hey gang, well I have to wake up excruciatingly early tomorrow but before I hit the hay, how about I post a link to a video project I did for school? For our first video in my video foundations class (thus far we’ve only done photography) we were supposed to do a video that we [...]

Sean’s Top Tens of 2006

Sean — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:57:00 +0000

I didn’t forget! I just… you know, wanted to put it off until after Shocktober. And then I wasn’t going to do it while I was busy with classes. Anyway, this is the last of these, as I don’t want to revisit 2007 once again and what’s the point of doing 2008 again? So enjoy [...]

Rad to the Bone

John — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:18:00 +0000

Weezer – RaditudeIt’s only been a year since Weezer released their last self-titled album which although enjoyable was not without it’s problems. With Raditude (album title suggested by actor Rainn Wilson) Weezer shows more cohesion and opens the door for collaborations with everyone from All American Rejects to Lil’ Wayne. With artists like that it [...]

Halloween 09′ Mighty Fine.

John — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:10:00 +0000

Still finishing up my “Top Terrors of 2000s” list which is taking a little longer than I anticipated but I’d still say it was a successful Halloween themed week. I hope everyone else enjoyed this spooky time of the year and will continue to enjoy the crisp autumn season as I do. So How about [...]

Shocktober: Top Terrors of the 2000s

John — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:55:00 +0000

So often I hear people discussing the decline of horror movies in this day and age. Where it would appear that remakes and the “Torture Porn” genre ruled most of the decade there’s surprisingly been a handful notable bone-chillers as well, you just got to know where to look. Though good American horror films may [...]

Shocktober: Scare-anormal Activity

John — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:38:00 +0000

Paranormal ActivityI love the Halloween season and what better way is there to celebrate than going to see a spooky flick in a darkened movie theater? Most years there isn’t much to see aside from the latest Saw installment, but this year there’s a new freaky flick that’s risen from film festival favorite all the [...]

Shocktober: Update

John — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Just thought I’d let everyone know that I’ve changed up my “post plans” I posted earlier this week. I’ve decided not to do a horror filmmakers list or a retrospective, I was going to do the classic Universal Frankenstein series but I still haven’t seen the House of Dracula which I guess technically is part [...]

World Series Predictions

Matt — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:56:00 +0000

Ah, here we are. A mere minutes before the fall classic is set to begin and I almost forgot to post the final post of the series. So I believe I was correct with my LCS predictions, which presents us with one of the better match ups in recent years. Everyone knows NY has one [...]

Shocktober: Frightening Followups

John — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:46:00 +0000

No genre has seen the dark side of sequels quite like the horror genre. With movies like Saw VI or Friday the 13th Part VII it’s easy to see that a lot of studios just take it too far. They pinch out the last few pennies of a once good idea but sometimes they can’t [...]

Shocktober: The Vault (Halloween Edition)

John — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:33:00 +0000

Remember my “The Vault” feature where I review old games? Well here’s my latest installment. I was contemplating the idea of a Resident Evil retrospective but decided to just review a few genesis oldies that delve into the spookier side of things. Haunting (1993)The Scoop: You control a rebellious young teenager by the name of [...]

Horror-ble

Sean — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:13:00 +0000

Transformers: Revenge of the FallenI guess John is taking charge and making the blog interesting for the week, but we can’t let him have all the fun now, can we? On the other hand, I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to horror films, so I don’t really have much to say, list wise. [...]

Shocktober: Terrifying Tunes

John — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

What’s a horror movie without a bone chilling score? Something to set the mood or heighten the suspense. I don’t have a lot of soundtracks on my ipod but out of what I do have, I don’t think you’d be surprised to hear that they’re primarily on the creepy side. From the classical scores of [...]

Shocktober: Re-animated

John — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Remakes are as rampant and numerous as ever in this day and age of Hollywood. Most of the time I’m against the idea but every once in awhile I think there’s a completely logical reason to remake a film. You can improve upon technical aspects or expand upon certain ideas but it’s not something that [...]

Shocktober: Intro

John — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:42:00 +0000

Well it’s almost Halloween so I suppose I better whip up some holiday themed posts. Last year on my own blog I reviewed 31 horror movies in 31 days but I just didn’t see enough movies to do that again. So here’s one terrifying week of horror movie themed lists. I’m thinking it will go [...]

Off the Charts

Sean — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:23:00 +0000

Uncharted 2: Among ThievesI sure am glad that this is the year I decided to get a PS3. Last spring I got my hands on the PlayStation exclusive that looked best to me, Uncharted (what can I say, Metal Gear Solid 4 intimidated me). That was a great game, a fun story with competent gameplay [...]

The System is Down

John — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:33:00 +0000

Yeah I beat the system… Though not really. Remember how Warner Music Group muted any videos on Youtube that had music they owned? Well apparently things have transpired since then to fix that shit and I’m now proud to say, all of my videos now have their audio back. A new feature must of been [...]

T3: Guilty Pleasures

Colin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:09:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything substantial, and I don’t really feel like doing an album review, it seems we haven’t had a whole lot more than reviews lately, so I thought I’d dust off an old favorite, the T3. Anyways, lately I’ve been reading the book High Fidelity, so I keep having [...]

Born to Be Wild

John — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Where the Wild Things Are The long awaited adaptation of a children’s classic, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are has finally been brought to the silver screen. Said to be “un-filmable” for many years, director Spike Jonze finally took on the project in 2005 and well, here we are now. I think we all [...]

Seriously OK

Sean — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:59:00 +0000

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic The Flaming Lips are back and they are as loud, weird, and experimental as ever. But is that necessarily a good thing? Sure, why not. These guys have been doing it for long enough now that they can do whatever they want. But the constant reinvention that has been their [...]

Seriously Good

Sean — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:32:00 +0000

A Serious ManLarry Gopnik is put through one serious test of faith in A Serious Man, the latest annual release from the Coen brothers. Larry seems like a good person; a family man, he doesn’t ask much from life. That all changes when his whole life starts to come apart: his wife wants a divorce, he [...]

Championship Series Predicitions

Matt — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:13:00 +0000

Baseball was in a sweepy mood the last couple weeks as all but one of the divisional series ended in with only one team winning. As for my predictions go I got the Phillies and Yankees moving on, while I totally missed with the Red Sox and Cardinals. That goes to show never trust predictions. [...]

The Summer is Over

Sean — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:59:00 +0000

The xx – xxWe’re a third of the way through October now. The sunshine songs from earlier this year don’t fit as well anymore. It’s time for music that’s a little moodier. A little more subdued. A little more melancholy. Something like the debut from The xx. That’s not to say there isn’t joy to [...]

Reality Can Be Disappointing

Sean — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:45:00 +0000

The PSP Go came out a week ago now. Do you know anyone that has one? Anyone that wants one? I don’t either. There doesn’t even seem to have been any hype surrounding the product, even if you compare it to other slight upgrade like the Nintendo DSi. Why? For one, the design is pretty, [...]

There’s Only One Cocktober

Matt — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:40:00 +0000

I’m not sure if I’m a hundred percent on board with this years post season advertising. Having Dane Cook is a step up from having David Wells basically saying “Hey, remember when I pitched a perfect game? I was drunk!” Anyways that magical time of the year is finally upon us. As tradition of the [...]

Z is for Zombie

John — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:53:00 +0000

Zombieland Who would of thought that out of all the new movies that opened this weekend Zombieland would not only be the most successful but the best received as well? I don’t really get it because even though I liked the film it’s certainly nothing I’ll remember. Sure it’s got some good laughs and nice [...]

Batman’s Ark

Sean — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:59:00 +0000

Batman: Arkham AsylumThe odds were stacked against Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s a Batman game, and there hasn’t been a good one of those since the SuperNES. It’s a stealth game, a genre which generally doesn’t deliver, especially this generation. It’s published out by Eidos, who never put out games people care about, and developed by [...]

Old Toys, New Polish

Colin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:35:00 +0000

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3-D With a number of intriguing movies being released this weekend, it might seem kind of strange that I ended up seeing a double feature of two films I’ve already seen many times, and yet I can’t imagine a better way of spending 3 hours at the movies. [...]

Lie Me a River

John — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:17:00 +0000

The Invention of Lying A little late on this one due to myself getting sick (though that didn’t stop me from seeing two movies this weekend) So Ricky Gervais with an all star cast and an over-the-top premise? What could possibly go wrong? Well a lot apparently as Gervais’ first time in the role of [...]

Sean’s Top Tens of 2005

Sean — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Once again all the little boys and girls have returned to school and all is seemingly right with the universe, albeit a little less fun. Actually, I’ve been down here for more than a month now, but who’s counting? I am. But I can only count to ten. Three times. Top 10 Films of 2005 [...]

Surroshits

John — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:20:00 +0000

Surrogates(Contains Spoilers)I didn’t want to see this movie. I was with my dad and brother and I was trying to go to the sneak peak showing of Whip It but Paul didn’t want to (plus we were too late) so we saw this, a free movie is a free movie I guess. So I’d anticipated [...]

A Musing on Muse’s Amusing Latest

Sean — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Muse – The ResistanceI like Muse. I don’t think I’d go as far as to say I love ‘em. But I appreciate them. Their new album, The Resistance, isn’t bad. It’s not as good as some of Muse’s previous stuff, especially the hot Black Holes and Revelations. On paper, it’s pretty hard to fault the [...]

Mildly Pleased » Blog

Trek On

Vampire in Brooklyn

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen

T3 58: Top 10 Ways to Give Up

Savage Yo’ Self

On Defiance

Heavy Boots of Lead

It’s Mostly Been Like That

T3 57: Top 10 Buddy Movies

Meh Meh Meh’s

T3 56: Top 10 Albums of 1968

T3 55: Top 10 Siskel & Ebert & Roeper Reviews

Buggin’ Out

The Next Day Never Knows

T3 54: Top 10 Remakes We’d Like to See

R.I.P. Roger Ebert

Bowie Blowout: Sean’s Top 10

Bowie Blowout: John’s Top Ten

Bowie Blowout: Colin’s Top Ten

Some Strokes Bullshit

Bon Voyage, Rock Band

God Only Knows

I Ain’t Raiding No Tombs

Retrospecticus: David Bowie, Part 3 – Forever Cool

T3 53: Top 10 Reasons To Not Be Excited About The Mariners Season

T3 52: Behind The Defenestrators

Retrospecticus: David Bowie, Part 2 – Ich Bin Ein Bowier

New Moon Rising

SimShitty

T3 51: Top 10 Fairy Tale Movies We Want to See

Retrospecticus: David Bowie, Part 1 – Dude Looks Like a Lady

The Peaceful Times

The Bots and the Bees

T3 50: Top Blog Memories of 2008

C.A.W: A Space in Time

T3 49: Top 10 Albums of 2008

The Vault: Blax History Month

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

The Path Less Traveled

The Vault: Blax History Month

T3 48: Top 10 Power Ballads

The Vault: Blax History Month

NBD

Land O’Links

License To Pill

Devil May Care

T3 47: Top 10 Candies

A Mission from God

The Vault: Blax History Month

Cold Hands Warm Heart

The Vault: Blax History Month

Goodnight From 30 Rockefeller Center

T3 46: Top 10 Series Finales

Fade Into Yo

Love is Like Foxygen

Unfinished Love

The Vault: Manuary

T3 45: Top 10 Anticipated Movies of 2013

The Vault: Manuary

At War with the Mystics

T3 44: Top 10 Movies of 2012

Colin’s Top 10 Movies Of 2012

John’s Top 10 Movies of 2012

Sean’s Top 10 Movies of 2012

Top 10 Video Games of 2012

The Vault: Manuary

T3 43: Top 10 TV Shows of 2012

Sean’s Top 10 Albums of 2012

John’s Top Ten Albums of 2012

Colin’s Top Ten Albums of 2012

The Vault: Manuary

‘Merican Manhunters

“I Had a Dreaaaaaaam!”

The Mildly Pleased Awards

The Vault: Manuary

Come on Baby, Light My Torch

Once Upon A Time In Candyland

Draggin’ the Line

The Vault: Crazy Christmas